Homosexuality and The Church: Discrimination or Not?

Discrimination is something we all want to avoid as “the equality of men rests essentially on their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it” CCC 1935. Indeed, the Catholic Church believes that “Every form of social or cultural discrimination in fundamental personal rights on the ground of sex, race, colour, social conditions, language or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God’s design.” Gaudium et Spes 29 This question therefore refers to the fundamental personal rights that gay people have that are being discriminated against. Certainly, the Church must speak out against unjust discrimination as indicated in its teaching and, if it has not done so, must repent and apologise. The dignity of each human being demands this.

However, not every choice that people make amounts to unjust discrimination. For instance, persons must have the capacity to carry out certain duties in certain professions. So that policemen and flight attendants must be of a certain minimum height, interior designers cannot be colour blind, administrative assistants have to be able to multi-task. The right to be in a profession therefore has a corresponding duty, capability or responsibility.

For the Church, the marriage covenant has certain criteria and the spouses must have certain capabilities. The love between the couple must be free, total, faithful/exclusive and fruitful. This is why, historically, the Church and society do not allow closely related people as well as people of the same sex to marry. In the Church, even the lack of capacity to have sexual intercourse or the specific intention not to “accept children from God” (Church marital vows) at the outset prevents a valid marriage and it has never been alleged that this is unjust discrimination. As with other such couples, the Church would not consider it unjust that gay people, who do not have the capacity to bear children, not be allowed to marry.

As far as parenting and the education of children are concerned, the Church, as well as many professionals too, hold that the ideal is for a man and woman to provide the role of father and mother respectively to children. If other family forms are given the same equal right to parent or adopt, then traditional marriage partners find themselves competing with persons who are unable to provide as advantageous an environment. Non- traditional partners could even cry discrimination and find themselves being granted preference for adoption, over what still remains the ideal. This would certainly become an injustice to children as their welfare would be replaced by the desires of grown-ups.

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