What did people find harsh and uninformed in that 1986 Vatican letter?
It backed away from the prevailing ethical opinion that a homosexual orientation is morally neutral and called it “an objective disorder.” Whatever this is supposed to mean, it suggests that gay people are sick, despite massive evidence to the contrary in medical, psychological, and sociobiological research. As if blaming gay people for the AIDS epidemic and ignoring their heroic — and virtually solitary! — efforts to stem it, the letter said: “Even when the practice of homosexuality may seriously threaten the lives and well-being of a large number of people, its advocates remain undeterred and refuse to consider the magnitude of the risks involved.” Regarding gay-bashing it read: when gay people seek to “protect behavior to which no one has any conceivable right, neither the church nor society at large should be surprised when other distorted notions and practices gain ground, and irrational and violent reactions increase.” As for securing the civil rights of gay people: “The bishops
It backed away from the prevailing ethical opinion that a homosexual orientation is morally neutral and called it “an objective disorder.” Whatever this is supposed to mean, it suggests that gay people are sick, despite massive evidence to the contrary in medical, psychological, and sociobiological research. As if blaming gay people for the AIDS epidemic and ignoring their heroic and virtually solitary! efforts to stem it, the letter said: “Even when the practice of homosexuality may seriously threaten the lives and well-being of a large number of people, its advocates remain undeterred and refuse to consider the magnitude of the risks involved.” Regarding gay-bashing it read: when gay people seek to “protect behavior to which no one has any conceivable right, neither the church nor society at large should be surprised when other distorted notions and practices gain ground, and irrational and violent reactions increase.” As for securing the civil rights of gay people: “The bishops shou
