Pope’s Kim Davis Meeting Sends Alarming Signal About LGBTQ Discrimination and Rule of Law

The Pope’s meeting with Kim Davis — the Kentucky government official who discriminated against same-sex couples and ignored a Supreme Court Order to follow the law — is being condemned by the National LGBTQ Task Force.

“The Pope’s meeting with Kim Davis breathes the oxygen of publicity and unwarranted credibility into the idea that discrimination against LGBTQ people and having contempt for the law is acceptable. We can only hope that Pope Francis was badly advised about the implications of such a meeting. Clearly it sends an alarming signal and it runs completely at variance with his now increasingly less credible ‘who am I to judge’ comments and his speech to Congress about practicing the Golden Rule. We urge Pope Francis and the Catholic hierarchy to unequivocally condemn discrimination against LGBTQ people and to support the rule of law. We respectfully suggest that the Catholic Church update its teachings to welcome and affirm all LGBTQ Catholics and to better reflect the views of the vast majority of Catholics on a whole range of issues including reproductive rights,” said Russell Roybal, Deputy Executive Director, National LGBTQ Task Force.