Homophobe hands out pictures of gay Catholic professor’s children in sickening bid to have her fired
The University of St Thomas, Minnesota (Facebook)
A gay theology professor at a Catholic university was targeted by a homophobe who walked around campus handing out photos of her and her children in a terrifying bid to get her fired.
The man, who has not been named, launched his campaign of harassment at the University of St Thomas in Minnesota, a Catholic institution where Kelly Wilson serves as adjunct professor of theology.
Wilson told KARE-11 that she was alerted to the man’s attempt to have her fired by campus security, and rejected his criticisms of her whole-heartedly.
“You don’t have to pick being gay or Catholic – it’s not either-or moments or decisions; what it is, I believe, I am being my authentic self,” she said.
“I believe that is what my church asks me to do, what the scriptures ask me to do and what God expects of me, and this is my home, this is the Catholic church.”
In a statement, the university said the man has a history of “criticising” employees at the university and was previously banned from campus.
“But we are limited in how we can respond to him when he is on public property,” the university said. “When we found out about this latest incident, we reached out to offer our fully support to Dr Wilson.”
The university spokesperson continued: “We also sent a university-wide communication rejecting this man’s hateful message and reaffirming our commitment to an inclusive environment for our LGBTQIA+ community members.”
As Pope Francis reminds us, ‘God has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity.’
The University of St Thomas said its response was “consistent with Catholic teaching, which calls on us to love and care for every person”.
“As Pope Francis reminds us: ‘God has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity,'” the spokesperson said.
Wilson responded to the campaign of harassment in the best possible way – by launching a fundraiser for Dignity Twin Cities, a Minnesota-based organisation that supports gay Catholics.
She also requested that James Martin, a well-known pro-LGBT+ priest, address staff and students at the university.
“The idea people would be protesting and as I can understand passing out pictures of her children is, let’s use a word that needs to be in the discussion, which is cruel,” Martin said in his address, according to Inside Higher Education.
“And that is certainly something not part of Catholic teaching, not part of the Christian world and not what Jesus asked us to do.”
