Tuesday June 15, 1999
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Catholic Toronto Hospital Sponsors Gay Pride Week
TORONTO, June 15 (LSN) – In a shocking story yesterday the Catholic Register reported that St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto has become a “bronze-level sponsor” of Toronto’s Gay Pride Week ’99. According to the article this will be the third year of involvement in the Gay Pride Week activities but the first time as a bronze-level supporter. The donation to the event must have been a substantial one since the “Catholic” hospital is only outstripped by a few corporate giants such as Labbatt Blue, Air Canada, Molson Dry, The Royal Bank and Toronto Hydro.
For a complete list of sponsors of the event see:
https://www.pridetoronto.com/sponsors.html
Hospital spokeswoman Rosemary MacGilchrist attempted to explain the hospital’s involvement in the Pride event saying “a Catholic hospital is inclusive, we celebrate diversity.” She noted that the provincial government has designated St. Michael’s as a leader in treatment and research of AIDS and HIV and that the Pride support was a way of reaching out to the people it serves.
However, the Gay Pride Week cannot be seen as an innocuous event able to be supported by an institution that calls itself Catholic. While the hospital may attempt to assert that support for the parade is supporting only the people and not the behaviour, such argumentation is not supported by the realities of the Pride activities.
According to the official information on the Pride Week celebrations, a Pre-Pride event is listed as “Show your Naked Pride. Join TNT MEN for their picnic at Hanlan’s Point clothing optional beach.” During the official Pride week under “entertainment” one can find “A dyke striptease unlike any you’ve seen before, unless you saw her last year.”
Critics point out that St. Mike’s support for Gay Pride is clear encouragement for the homosexual lifestyle that in the first place leads to the homosexual suffering and deadly disease requiring hospital treatment. Msgr. Vincent Foy of Toronto states that the hospital’s Gay Pride involvement “betrays homosexuals.”
The Catholic teaching on homosexuality says that “basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are disordered. Under no circumstances can they be approved.” (CCC #2357) In fact the Church expressly warned against any activity (such as Gay Pride) which might encourage those with homosexual tendencies “to believe that the living out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not.” (CDF, Oct. 1986, Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons)
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