Illinois Catholic
university to offer queer studies minor

The nation's largest Catholic university has started offering a minor in gay studies. Starting last month, students at DePaul University in Illinois may now choose a minor in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer studies. The program's director says the move makes sense. He told the Chicago Tribune, "Institutions of higher learning, Catholic or not, are about open investigation and free inquiry." A spokesperson for the higher education ministry at the archdiocese of Chicago says the archdiocese isn't necessarily against the program, adding, "I don't have any allergic reaction per se to the subject matter. There are ways it could be treated good and ways it could be treated bad." But other Illinois Catholics don't see it the same way. The group Catholic Citizens of Illinois said it plans to send a letter to DePaul's president. Spokesman Karl Maurer said the program "validates people in a sinful lifestyle." Students in the program so far disagree with that sentiment. According to one student, "They are not telling you how to be queer. They are teaching you the implications of an identity and a community." (Sirius OutQ News)