This section is an open forum to share reflections or responses connected to our mission. If you have something to say, then send me your thoughts to post them here—even anonymously. There is no format. Please respect the privacy of the authors. These reflections are intended only for the private forum of our network. Public sharing or reprinting is not permitted.
✅ Anonymous Student (Somewhere USA)
I realized I was gay in 7th grade. Junior high is hard enough as it is. It’s hard before you have to weigh your sexuality against your spirituality, before you’re sick with worry about whether or not your parents will disown you, and before you start wondering if you’ll even live through high school. I was nervous to come to school, but all the guys in my family went here, and I wasn’t going to let that tradition stop with me. After spending 4 years here, I can say that I love and will miss school when I graduate, and I wouldn’t trade my time here for anything. But I won’t lie and say that it was easy.
We all hear what’s said in the hallways. We all hear hateful homophobic words. But what one student quickly dismisses, I inhale like secondhand smoke. I’m not out at school, and my few friends that know about me were surprised (but supporting) when I told them. I don’t fit with the stereotypes that some individuals have of gay guys, so people never suspect anything until I tell them otherwise. And so while some friends of mine know, many more will never earn that privilege—not because I’m paranoid, but because they have proven with their “jokes,” gestures, and imitations that I cannot trust them with a more vulnerable part of myself.
Some of those friends would probably laugh at and joke about this message, but they wouldn’t if they knew it came from someone they care about. Stop assuming your friends will appreciate your hateful humor. Be like the vast majority of upstanding people who find strength in having differences. There’s no worse way to lose a friend than when you hear them use a slur right in front of you. Don’t be that person. If you remember a single thing I say, let it be this: don’t let yourself be the reason you lose a friend.
- "Creating a Spirit of Welcome: LGBTQ+ Issues and Catholic Schools" is a workshop offered by New Ways Ministry to help Catholic educators plan what types of LGBTQ+ initiatives would be appropriate for their schools. For the spring semester of 2024, New Ways Ministry has received a grant to offer this workshop to school leaders free of charge. The workshop topics can be adapted to local needs and situations, and the program can be scheduled as a one-day, half-day, or two-part program. The general program description can be found here. For more information, please contact Frank DeBernardo at New Ways Ministry: director@NewWaysMinistry.org or call 301-277-5674.
- The Family Acceptance Project (FAP) is updating their family education booklets that are Best Practice resources for Suicide Prevention. These multilingual booklets have helped thousands of families to decrease rejection and increase support for LGBTQ people. As part of this work, FAP is producing a new version of the booklet for Catholic families with LGBTQ young people and is reaching out to invite Catholic LGBTQ people and families to share family photos that could be included in this new publication. For more information or to share photos, contact fap@sfsu.edu.
- The Family Acceptance Project (FAP) is inviting Asian, Black, Latino, Indigenous and multiracial parents and caregivers who have parented LGBTQ young people to participate on a parent advisory group for a new family support study. The new study will provide FAP’s family support services free online to help racially diverse parents who are struggling with their child's LGBTQ identity to decrease rejection and increase family support and well-being. Parent advisory group members will provide guidance on implementing the project. Here’s a brief survey to apply for the group. For more info about FAP contact fap@sfsu.edu.
Sr. Julia Wash is a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and a blogger/podcaster at Messy Jesus Business. A former high school teacher, Sr. Julia's ministry is now dedicated to exploring the meaning of vocation and discipleship. At the age of 25, just a month into her novitiate, Julia fell from a cliff and became disfigured. While working toward healing, she felt pulled to religious community life, but also toward unresolved feelings regarding her own sexuality, identity, and injustice. Her new book, For Love of the Broken Body, is a story of pain, questioning, recovery, and discovery. The number of women choosing to enter religious life across the U.S. is shrinking rapidly, so Sr. Julia encounters a lot of curiosity about her choice. In this memoir, she writes honestly about feeling drawn to men and to sex, as well as what it means, in this age of self-discovery and hook-ups, for a young woman—physically broken and still very much attracted to the world—to join a celibate, religious community.
- Future of Faith develops and curates resources to help connect current and future generations with their faith lives. It’s a no strings attached gift to all those in ministry who want to listen better and lead the future of the church by creating relational, inclusive spaces. Right now, they’ve got a newsletter highlighting some really innovative ministries and Sacred Listening Tools that are free to download. Josh Packard (josh@futureofaith.org) and Megan Bissell (megan@futureofaith.org) lead this beautiful effort and would love to hear from you.
- Registration is open! The LGBTQ+ Initiative of the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative will host a summer conference from Thursday June 27 to Sunday, June 30, 2024 at the Bergamo Center in Dayton, OH. “Imago Dei: Embracing the Dignity of LGBTQ+ Persons” aims to celebrate the 50th anniversary of a 1974 groundbreaking conference centered on LGBTQ+ inclusion and ministry which was held in Dayton at the Bergamo Center. The conference hopes to honor those who foresaw the importance of developing pastoral care and outreach, and to envision how we can continue to respond to the needs of the LGBTQ+ community within our Church and world.
The Naming Project Summer Camp will run this summer from July 28 - August 2 in Minnesota. The theme this year is Abundant Life! Sometimes, especially these days, it can be hard to believe in abundant life. Everywhere we look, we see limitations on who we are, on our relationships, and the future ahead of us. God’s promise, over and over again, for all of us, is that we will have abundant life, not limited in any way. This summer, claim that promise of abundant life with The Naming Project, and discover how to ensure others have abundant life as well. Campers will experience large and small group conversation, personal quiet time as well as campfires, crafts, swimming, games, and summer camp fun in the beauty of God’s creation! More information is available here.
October 2023 (1st monthly edition)
Without Exception is a global network of Catholic secondary educators dedicated to discerning the art of accompaniment for LGBTQ+ students in Catholic schools. Through a commitment to faithful dialogue and peer collaboration, we seek to understand what it means to share the love of Jesus Christ with every person, without exception.
Email: info@withoutexception.net
Website: www.withoutexception.net