DignityUSA is an organization with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, that focuses on

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...

and the

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. Dignity Canada exists as the Canadian sister organization. The organization is made up of local chapters across the country, and functions both as a support and social group for LGBT and LGBT-accepting Catholics to worship together. "The goal of 'Dignity' is to serve as an advocate for change in the Roman Catholic Church's stance on homosexuality", and as an activist group for LGBT rights and education about LGBT issues. Since 2007, Marianne Duddy-Burke has served as executive director.

History

Dignity was founded in early 1969 in

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, by Father Pat Nidorf,Hogan and Hudson, p. 478 first as a counseling group, then as a support group. That makes it a "pre- Stonewall" LGBT organization that is still in existence. The first chapter of Dignity formed in 1970 in

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. In 1982, lesbian members of Dignity founded the Conference for Catholic Lesbians, out of concern that Dignity was too oriented toward males. DignityUSA has been recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization since August 1982.

''On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons''

On October 1, 1986, the

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, the Catholic body charged to "spread sound

Catholic doctrine Catholic doctrine may refer to: * Catholic theology ** Catholic moral theology ** Catholic Mariology *Heresy in the Catholic Church * Catholic social teaching * Catholic liturgy *Catholic Church and homosexuality The Catholic Church broadly ...

and defend those points of Christian tradition which seem in danger because of new and unacceptable doctrines", issued a letter entitled ''

On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons The document ''On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons'', also known by its opening words ''Homosexualitatis problema'', was a pastoral letter authored by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) of the Roman Catholic Church addresse ...

''. In it, the Catholic Church affirmed its position that homosexual ''activity'' was "objectively disordered" and that all support should be withdrawn from any organization that undermined the Church's teaching or were ambiguous about or neglectful of it. According to writer Neil Miller, an immediate effect of the document was the decision by several American bishops to order that DignityUSA no longer be allowed to hold

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in Catholic churches. Dioceses in

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, Buffalo,

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Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and

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all rescinded permission for the organization to hold services on church property. In some cases the group chapters had been holding Masses for a decade or longer.

Honors

DignityUSA was given Call To Action's 1994 Leadership Award. Dignity Chicago was inducted into the

Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame (formerly Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame) is an institution founded in 1991 to honor persons and entities who have made significant contributions to the quality of life or well-being of the LGBT community in Chic ...

in 1997. In 2023, San Francisco Mayor London Breed declared January 15 Dignity/San Francisco Day and issued a proclamation; 2023 was the year of Dignity/San Francisco’s fiftieth anniversary.

Chapters

As of 2021, there are 37 chapters, in the United States. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were currently 17 offering online services.

Notes

References

* Hogan, Steve and Lee Hudson (1998). ''Completely Queer: The Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia''. New York, Henry Holt and Company. . * Miller, Neil (1995). ''Out Of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History From 1869 To the Present''. New York, Vintage (a division of Random House). . * The National Museum & Archive of Lesbian and Gay History (1996). ''The Gay Almanac''. New York, Berkeley Books. .

External links

*
Conference for Catholic Lesbians
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dignityusa LGBT and Catholicism LGBT churches in the United States LGBT Christian organizations Organizations established in 1969 1969 establishments in California 501(c)(3) organizations Organizations based in Massachusetts Medford, Massachusetts