Petition to NYC Archbishop: Meet With Homeless LGBT Youth

Joseph Amodeo, a gay Roman Catholic who recently resigned from a Catholic Charities board because of the church's stance on LGBT issues, has initiated a petition calling on New York archbishop Timothy Dolan to meet with homeless LGBT young people.

Amodeo quit the junior board of the New York branch of Catholic Charities this month following an exchange of letters between Dolan and Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center, which serves homeless LGBT youth. Siciliano wrote to Dolan expressing concern that the archbishop's "loud and strident voice against the acceptance of LGBT people" creates "a climate where parents turn on their own children" and therefore contributes to homelessness.

Dolan responded, "For you to make the allegations and insinuations you do in your letter based on my adherence to the clear teachings of the Church is not only unfair and unjust, but inflammatory. Neither I nor anyone in the Church would ever tolerate hatred of or prejudice towards any of the Lord's children."

In his letter of resignation from the Catholic Charities board, Amodeo decried Dolan's "inaction" in response to the Ali Forney Center's "call for help" and said, "Siciliano's comments were not inflammatory, they were truth." Now Amodeo's petition, posted on Change.org, calls on Dolan "to meet with homeless LGBT youth, hear their stories, and dialogue with them." He plans to deliver the signed petitions to the archbishop May 17, the Feast of the Ascension. To see or sign the petition, click here.