In an effort to continue to unify the Georgetown community and foster open discussion, campus ministries have taken vital steps since last year to welcome the LGBTQ Resource Center.
DeGioia sent a letter in February 2008 requesting that the campus population as a whole embrace the center, which was founded, in part, as a response to two alleged hate crimes. In his letter, DeGioia emphasized that Georgetown does not tolerate any form of homophobia or discrimination.
According to Fr. Patrick Rogers, S.J., director of main campus ministry, the Office of Campus Ministry as a whole has made welcoming the center a priority this year. While the official initiative only began this past September, individual ministries had been reaching out to the LGBTQ Resource Center since last year. Rogers noted that a Catholic prayer group was formed last year for LGBTQ students in response to their desire to explore their Catholic faith in light of their sexual orientation.
Similarly, Deborah Reichmann, Jewish outreach coordinator, said that the Jewish ministry successfully co-hosted Pride Shabbat, an event with GUPride that aims to welcome all students to the Jewish faith regardless of sexual orientation, for the second year in a row this fall. They are also currently planning an event with the LGBTQ center for the spring.
As the first Catholic college or university in the nation to fund a LGBTQ center, Georgetown faces some unique challenges.
“We’re taking baby steps and listening to everyone’s concerns,” Rogers said. “Being in the middle of these issues is the right place to be. We recognize people’s concerns; we recognize that there has to be a dialogue about LGBTQ and broader sexual issues.”
any of the ministries have discussed doctrinal conflicts in regard to LGBTQ issues. Rev. Constance Wheeler, Protestant chaplaincy director, stated that the different Protestant dominations hold different beliefs on the matter, and that the protestant chaplains have conducted, “a theological and biblical discussion of LGBTQ issues, and, more generally, sexual issues of both homosexual and heterosexual lifestyles.”
She affirmed that some of these issues are viewed as sinful, but also specified that this view has not prevented the Protestant chaplaincy from forming a subcommittee to develop ideas for future events with the LBGTQ Resource Center.
Reichmann stated that the LGBTQ Resource Center does not contradict any core beliefs endorsed by the Jewish chaplaincy. Like Rogers and Wheeler, she expressed a readiness to work with the center.
“We support efforts by the university to teach tolerance and understanding, and promote human dignity. Therefore, we welcome the LGBTQ [Resource] Center’s role in those efforts,” Reichmann said.
Sivagami Subbaraman, director of the LGBTQ Resource Center, is eager to build relationships with the various on-campus ministries.
“I am committed to doing LGBTQ work on this campus that is respectful of all our varied and different faith traditions – not just limited to the Christian denomination, but also inclusive of Hindu, Jewish and Muslim traditions. It is my belief that faith and spirituality are central to the mission of our work here in the center because LGBTQ communities consist of people of diverse faith,” she said.
Subbaraman has already received and acted upon invitations to give presentations about the LGBTQ Resource Center to campus ministry and chaplains-in-residence.
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