Media Releases
May 15 2008
Brisbane Gay Catholic Challenges Church on Homophobia
Brisbane Gay Catholic advocate, Tony Robertson has called on the Catholic Bishops of Australia to include May 17 the International Day Against Homophobia in diocesan, parish and school calendars.
Mr Robertson first made his appeal to the Bishops in 2005, when the International Day Against Homophobia was launched to commemorate the removal of homosexuality from the General Assembly of the World Health Organization(WHO)list of mental disorders on 17 May 1990
Mr Robertson said that he was encouraged to continue his campaign following a visit to his old school, St Joseph’s Christian Brothers College in Geelong during 2007 where he was able to address a Year 12 group of students who had just completed a unit of study on homophobia.
“It was encouraging to speak to young students as a gay man in a safe environment” he said.
Mr Robertson said: “Sharing my experience as a young gay man in a very different era at the college gave me an insight into the important role of mentoring that Gay and Lesbian Catholics can provide in our Church Community”
However, Mr Robertson said he is also aware that homophobia continues to appear in much of the conversation about sexuality in the Church. In 2007 Mr Robertson lodged a complaint of sexuality vilification against an online discussion forum sponsored by the Catholic Church. As a result of the complaint the Church published an apology to Mr Robertson
“ My experience as a participant in online discussion forums about faith and sexuality has raised my concerns about a culture of homophobia which is evident among some of the contributors to such forums.” Mr Robertson said.
“The inclusion of the International Day Against Homophobia in Church calendars will send a clear message to those in the Church who fail to understand that the dignity of the human person is a core Catholic teaching which challenges homophobia in our community” he said.
——————————————
PO Box 3525
South Brisbane Qld 4101
M: 0417792509
August 2003
The Catholic Leader last week (August3) featured two documents which I suggest promote the alienation of Gay and Lesbian Catholics from their rightful access to full participation in the life of the Church.
The celebration of the promulgation of the Synod priorities failed to even acknowledge the presence of Gay and Lesbian Catholics in the life and mission of our local Church. Our Archdiocesan story is diminished by the silence which does not even accept the reality noted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that our numbers are “not negligible” (CCC 235 
Given the popular albeit unreliable estimate of 1 in 10 people having same sex orientation, that gives 60,000 extra contributors to the collection plates each week. That’s a lot of “pink dollars” that could keep the Archdiocese of out the red!!
Of far greater concern was the news of the publication of “Considerations Regarding the Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons” by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This document fails to support the Synod hope of igniting the hearts and minds of Catholics at the parish level.
The Vatican statement in fact ignites passions of anger and will frustrate attempts by parishes in our Archdiocese to be “inclusive and welcoming” as Archbishop Bathersby intends. At the heart of the Vatican Statement is a re-writing of the Church’s Social Teaching and an “an appalling interference by the church into domestic politics.” (Senator Brian Greig Australian Democrats)
I might be tempted to frame a copy of the Synod priorities, but I will be posting a copy of the Vatican Statement to the Apostolic Nuncio with a request that he take it back to Rome to get a writing team to rework it in accordance with pastoral care, Catholic Social Teachings and a healthier vision of sexuality
May 29 2003
Gay Activist Supports Doctoral Award for Gay Spirituality
Tony Robertson, a Gay Catholic activist in Brisbane has welcomed the conferring of a PhD award to Dr Rollan McCleary of the University of Queensland for his research into Gay Spirituality.
Mr Robertson said: “Gay Spirituality is a subversive element of Christianity which has been neglected. It has nurtured radical interpretations of the Jesus story that expose the homophobia of male clericalism which has dominated Christian history.”
Mr Robertson expects that Dr McCleary’s research and his forthcoming book, “Signs for a Messiah” will open up new conversations and challenge the traditional understanding of Christian Spirituality. Mr Robertson said: “Just as Indigenous Spirituality, Women’s Spirituality and Environmental Spirituality have broken new ground for Christians, so too Gay Spirituality takes us into another dimension of the human experience of the divine.”
Mr Robertson is active in advocating for the rights of Gay, Lesbian Transgender and Bisexual people in the Catholic Church. Mr Robertson said: “One of these rights is access to the spiritual treasures of the Church. The treasure of Gay Spirituality has been neglected and denied for too long. It has produced great witnesses of faith from martyrs of the early Church through to the contemporary witness of Father Mychel Judge , the Franciscan Friar who died supporting victims of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre.”
June 9 2003
Being gay and catholic is something of a double whammy. The Church tells us we are “intrinsically disordered’. Many in the gay community are understandably sceptical of any form of gay Christian alliance. Now Archbishop John Bathersby tells us that if we happen to a singing Gay Catholic or even just a singing homosexual (sic) we are not welcome in his churches!!!!(Courier Mail June 7)
I’m sure the Archbishop is aware that paragraph 2358 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly states in relation to homosexuals that “Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided” I respectfully suggest the Archbishop’s track record of advocacy for social justice is discredited by his request that the Brisbane Lesbian and Gay Pride Choir be asked to move from St Mary’s Church in South Brisbane. Such a request falls short of the Catechism’s directive that homosexuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity”
As the person responsible for inviting the choir to use St Mary’s I have no doubt contributed to “causing offense” to the Archbishop. At least I am in good company!! Church history records that many of the great saints including our own beloved Mary MacKillop managed to cause offense to one or more bishops and archbishops .It may even be that ‘casing offense” as Jesus did in his time is a sign of the true Christian.
