The Alt-Right's Ongog Obssn wh Demonizg Gay People as Predators

Contents:

• HOW THE ALT-RIGHT IS USG SEX AND CAMP TO ATTRACT GAY MEN TO FASCISM
• THE ALT-RIGHT'S ONGOG OBSSN WH DEMONIZG GAY PEOPLE AS PREDATORS
• THE ALT-RIGHT IS GAY
• A PRIT IS FIGHTG FOR LGBT ACCEPTANCE. THE CATHOLIC ALT-RIGHT WANTS HIM SILENCED.BUILDING A BRIDGECOURTY TRIBE FILM FTIVALFATHER JAM MART SPENT YEARS PLEADG FOR THE CHURCH TO WELE THE LGBT MUNY. AS THE CATHOLIC ALT-RIGHT ATTACKS HIM AND THE VATIN SAYS NO, IS AN IMPOSSIBLE MISSN?KEV FALLONSENR EDOR, OBSSEDUPDATED JUN. 16, 2021 3:39AM EDT / PUBLISHED JUN. 15, 2021 6:35PM EDT FIVE YEARS AGO, ON JUNE 12, 2016, 49 PEOPLE WERE MASSACRED AT THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB ORLANDO. IT WAS, AT THE TIME, THE ADLIT MASS SHOOTG U.S. HISTORY, WH AN ADDNAL 53 PATRONS WOUND. PULSE WAS A PREDOMANTLY LGBT VENUE, AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT’S ALWAYS BEEN TE: FOR THE MARGALIZED LGBT MUNY, THE GAY BAR WAS A PLACE OF ACCEPTANCE. A SANCTUARY. A CHURCH.WHEN A GUNMAN ENTERED THAT GAY CLUB ORLANDO, HE FILTRATED A SAFE SPACE. IT WAS WHERE A GROUP OF PEOPLE CULTIVATED THEIR RASHIP AND INTY, GATHERED SOLIDARY TO BE THEMSELV EELY, EMPOWERED, MA CHANGE, AND, Y, HAD FUN. LIKE PARISHNERS TO A CHURCH, THE PEOPLE—TO CLU THIS WRER, WE—GRAVATE TO THE VENU AS A NATURAL-BORN SURVIVAL MECHANISM. AND THERE, THAT SAFE SPACE, 49 PEOPLE WERE KILLED.FATHER JAM MART REMEMBERS HIS HORROR AT THE NEWS OF WHAT HAPPENED AT PULSE. AND HE REMEMBERS THE POTED, UNIGNORABLE SILENCE AFTERWARD OM THE LEARS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.WH OTHER GUN TRAGEDI, BISHOPS LIVERED STATEMENTS ABOUT STANDG WH THE VICTIMS, OFTEN SPECIFYG, IF APPLIBLE, THE CHURCH NOMATN OR MON AFFILIATN OF THE MUNY THAT WAS ATTACKED. BUT AFTER PULSE, THE ADLIT MASS SHOOTG THE U.S. HAD EVER SUFFERED, ONLY A HANDFUL OF BISHOPS SAID ANYTHG. “THEY WERE SILENT,” FATHER MART SAYS THE NEW DOCUMENTARY, BUILDG A BRIDGE, WHICH PREMIERED TUDAY AT THE TRIBE FILM FTIVAL. “I ULDN’T BELIEVE . IT REALLY ANGERED ME THAT, EVEN ATH, THE PEOPLE WERE LARGELY VISIBLE TO THE CHURCH.”THE CHURCH’S REACTN TO PULSE GALVANIZED FATHER MART, A JU PRIT NEW YORK CY AND EDOR-AT-LARGE OF THE JU MAGAZE AMERI. IN 2017, HE PUBLISHED THE BOOK BUILDG A BRIDGE: HOW THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE LGBT COMMUNY CAN ENTER TO A RELATNSHIP OF RPECT, COMPASSN, AND SENSIVY.HIS OUTREACH HAS TAKEN HIM ON A SPEAKG TOUR THAT CLUD A PRIVATE DIENCE WH POPE FRANCIS. FOR MANY CATHOLICS, HIS SUGGTN THAT THE LGBT MUNY ULD BE EMBRACED WH THE DOCTRE OF THE CHURCH HAS PROVID AN ALMOST ARTICULABLE AND PROFOUND HOPE. FOR MANY OTHERS, CLUDG CHURCH LEARS, HIS IAS AMOUNT TO A REJECTN OF CATHOLIC TEACHGS. RATHER THAN BUILDG A BRIDGE, TO THEM, HE IS TEARG DOWN ONE THAT LEADS TO THE TE CATHOLIC WORD.HIS PUBLIC PROFILE HAS ALSO MA HIM A TARGET OF WHAT HE’S DUBBED THE “CATHOLIC ALT-RIGHT,” WHO ANIZE SOCIAL MPAIGNS AGAST HIM, PROTT HIS SERMONS, AND AMPLIFY THEIR OWN VIEW THAT IS “HOMOHERY” TO SUGGT THAT THE CHURCH WELE LGBT MEMBERS.THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SEEMS TO BE AT AN EXISTENTIAL CROSSROADS WHEN TO THE LGBT ISSUE.IN 2013, POPE FRANCIS SUGGTED A MOVEMENT TOWARD ACCEPTANCE WH HIS FAMO “WHO AM I TO JUDGE?” SPEECH. BUT THIS MARCH, THE VATIN ISSUED A CREE STATG THAT PRITS ULD NOT BLS SAME-SEX UNNS SCE GOD “NNOT BLS S.”FATHER MART, THEN, IS A LIGHTNG ROD A RAGG STORM—AND A RELIGN THAT TAK SUCH ACTS OF GOD SERLY. ADVERTISEMENT SUCH THUNRO TENSN IS AT THE CX OF BUILDG A BRIDGE. DIRECTED BY EVAN MASGNI AND SHANNON POST, THE DOCUMENTARY IS EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY MART SRSE, TO GIVE A SENSE OF THE WEIGHT THE TOPIC RRI.THE FILM IS ABOUT FATHER MART’S MISSN, WHICH HE LAYS OUT EARLY ON: “I WANT TO TALK ABOUT A BRIDGE. AND ’S A BRIDGE BETWEEN THE STUTNAL CHURCH AND THE LGBT CATHOLIC MUNY. HELPG LGBT CATHOLICS FEEL LIKE THEY ARE PART OF THEIR CHURCH, AND THAT THEY ARE WELED AND LOVED. SOME CATHOLICS OBJECT TO THIS, JT PUTTG DLY.” (HE GIGGL AFTER THAT LAST LE.)BUT MORE THAN THAT, ’S ABOUT THE LGBT-INTIFYG CATHOLICS AND FAI WHO HAVE LEFT THE CHURCH BEE OF S TEACHGS. THEY ARE THE PEOPLE WHOSE FAH AND ABILY TO PRACTICE , PROUDLY AND WH A NSCIENCE, IS AFFECTED BY THE NVERSATNS. FOR THE PEOPLE, THIS IS A CRISIS AS MUCH AS IS A DISURSE. IT IS THE CENTER OF WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY BELIEVE. IT IS THEIR SOULS, THEIR MORAL PASS, AND THEIR IA OF ETERNY.THE OFFICIAL VATIN STANCE IS THAT HOMOSEXUALY IS “OBJECTIVELY DISORRED,” THOUGH THE TECHISM PREACH AGAST VLENCE.SPEAKG OM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, WHEN A PERSON WHO GROWS UP THE CATHOLIC CHURCH STGGL WH SEXUALY AND G OUT, VOLV AN TENSE NONTATN WH THE RELIGN THAT HAS BEEN FUNDAMENTAL TO YOUR ENTIRE OUTLOOK ON THE WORLD. “I ULDN’T BELIEVE . IT REALLY ANGERED ME THAT, EVEN ATH, THE PEOPLE WERE LARGELY VISIBLE TO THE CHURCH.” ADVERTISEMENT THAT ENTAILS NSIRG WHAT YOU SERVE OM YOUR CHURCH MUNY AS A GAY PERSON. IT’S WEIGHG IAS LIKE “MORALY” AND “S” JT BEE YOU HAVE THE DACY TO UNRSTAND WHO IS THAT YOU LOVE. IT’S NTEMPLATG WHAT YOUR SALVATN MAY LOOK LIKE.THERE ARE CHOIC TO MAKE. YOU MT GRIEVE THE LOSS OF YOUR FAH AND STEP AWAY, OR YOU MT BE SO CERTA YOUR BELIEFS AND YOUR RELATNSHIP WH GOD THAT YOU N RATNALIZE WHO YOU ARE WH THE CHURCH TEACHGS. THAT’S A LOT OF FAH TO ASK, YET MANY LGBT CATHOLICS MAKE THAT SACRIFICE. AND STILL, THERE ARE MANY CATHOLICS WHO WILL READ ABOUT THAT TRMATIC JOURNEY AND STILL NFORM TO THE TRADNAL TEACHGS.THAT THE PLITED FEELGS AND JOURNEYS ARE GIVEN A SPOTLIGHT IS THE LLATERAL IMPACT OF BUILDG A BRIDGE’S FOC ON FATHER MART’S WORK AND THE VOLATILE REACTN ’S RECEIVED.IN THE FILM, WE WATCH AS HE SENDS A TWEET THAT THE TECHISM TO BOLSTER AN ARGUMENT FOR PASSN TOWARDS THE LGBT MUNY, ONLY TO BE IMMEDIATELY ASSLTED WH VRLIC RPONS OM CATHOLICS WHO DON’T WANT TO HEAR , ACCG HIM OF HERY.THERE’S A LARGE CHUNK OF SCREEN TIME SPENT WH MICHAEL VORIS, A HOST AND ANTAGONIZER FOR LAY APOSTOLATE AND NEWS WEBSE CHURCH MILANT. IN WEB VIOS THAT BLAST WH ALL THE EXTREMISM OF A FOX NEWS SEGMENT, VORIS BRANDS FATHER MART AS CATHOLIC ENEMY NO. 1 FOR HIS “GAYG OF THE CHURCH.”BEFORE HIS REVERSN TO CATHOLICISM, VORIS ENGAGED HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVY. NOW, HE’S A LEADG VOICE THE ORTHODOX TERPRETATN OF THE LGBT MUNY: IT IS NOT TO BE NDONED OR ACCEPTED. ADVERTISEMENT “CHRIST NEVER GIV A BURN OR A CROSS THAT THEY AREN’T PABLE OF RRYG,” VORIS SAYS. “I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE CROSS IS IF YOU’RE FATHER MART AND THE WHOLE GAY THG. YOU N JT GO HAVE SEX WH WHOEVER YOU WANT TO? YOU N JT GET MARRIED AND BE GAY AND THE CHURCH HAS TO NFORM TO YOU? WHERE IS THE SUFFERG? WHERE IS THE SACRIFICE? NO PA, NO GA. IF YOU DO NOT RRY THAT CROSS, YOU DO NOT GET TO THE KGDOM OF HEAVEN.”EVEN THOSE YOU MIGHT EXPECT TO BE ON FATHER MART’S SI LOB SOME OF THE SHARPT CRICISMS.OUT AT ST. PL, A LGBT MISTRY NEW YORK, HELD HEATED NVERSATNS WH FATHER MART AFTER HIS BOOK WAS FIRST PUBLISHED. THEY TOOK ISSUE WH THE IA OF “BUILDG A BRIDGE OM BOTH SIS” BEE THAT PUT AN ON ON THE LGBT MUNY TO BUILD THEIR PART OF THE BRIDGE THEMSELV. HOW ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO BUILD A TWO-WAY BRIDGE WHEN ’S THE CHURCH THAT HAS THE POWER? (FATHER MART CHANGED THAT PART OF THE BOOK FOR S SEND PRTG.)THERE N BE ENDLS BATE ABOUT WHAT FATHER MART IS DOG. BUT ’S THE EMOTN BEHD THAT BATE THAT EMANAT OM THE FILM. “FOR THE PEOPLE, THIS IS A CRISIS AS MUCH AS IS A DISURSE. IT IS THE CENTER OF WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY BELIEVE. IT IS THEIR SOULS, THEIR MORAL PASS, AND THEIR IA OF ETERNY.” CHRISTE LEONEN IS THE MOTHER OF CHRISTOPHER, ONE OF THE VICTIMS OF THE PULSE SHOOTG. IN ONE HEARTBREAKG SEGMENT, SHE TALKS ABOUT HOW LOVED CHRISTOPHER WAS, HOW PROUDLY OUT HE WAS AS A GAY MAN, AND SHOWS THE CLOTH HE WAS WEARG THE NIGHT HE WAS KILLED: A T-SHIRT AND JEANS WH BULLET HOL THROUGH THEM. HER EXPERIENCE GRIEVG HIM AND THE OTHER QUEER PEOPLE WHO WERE MURRED THAT NIGHT, SHE SAYS, GAVE HER A NEW SIGHT TO THE NVERSATN SURROUNDG HOMOSEXUALY AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. ADVERTISEMENT “I LOVED MY SON, BUT BROKE MY HEART TO KNOW THERE WAS ONE KID WHOSE FAY WOULDN’T E TO GET HIM BEE HE WAS GAY, BEE THEY BELIEVED THAT WAS WHAT CATHOLICISM TGHT THEM,” SHE SAYS. “WHY IS THAT THIS CHURCH I BELONG TO, WHY AREN’T THEY FORTG ME?… THEY SHOULD BE MARCHG WH , TALKG WH , BEG WH WHILE OUR KIDS WERE KILLED.”WE MEET THE MSELMAN FAY, WHOSE THREE CHILDREN ALL INTIFY AS LGBTQ. AS PRACTICG CATHOLICS, RECKONG WH THEIR FAH AND THE REJECTN OM THEIR RELIG MUNY IS DIFFICULT.“IT’S HEARTBREAKG—LIKE GUT-WRENCHG, SOUL-CSHG SADNS—TO WATCH SOMEONE LOOK AT YOUR CHILD OR YOUR CHILDREN WH DISGT THEIR EY,” THE MOTHER SAYS. “THEN YOU FEEL LIKE THIS LOSS. LIKE A REAL LOSS. BEE YOU LOVE YOUR KIDS AND WHAT ELSE WERE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO? AND YOU WANT TO KEEP THEM THE CHURCH.”THE FAY IS AMONG THOSE WHO ARE SPIRUALLY HELPED AND HEARTENED BY FATHER MART’S WORK AND HIS IAS. IN FACT, YOU SEE THAT EVERYWHERE FATHER MART GO.THERE ARE PEOPLE, EY WET WH TEARS, SHARG STORI ABOUT HOW BUILDG A BRIDGE AND MART’S TALKS HAVE HELPED THEM E AROUND TO ACCEPTANCE OF THEIR OWN GAY RELATIV. THERE ARE QUEER-QUTNG PEOPLE WHO NFS THEIR FEARS ABOUT G OUT AND HOW THE BOOK IS HELPG THEM WORK THROUGH . THERE ARE OUT GAY CATHOLICS WHO SEE A PATH BACK TO THE CHURCH BEE OF .IT’S EPLY EMOTNAL BEE THE FEELGS—THAT RANGE OM SHAME AND HATRED TO SPERATN AND EVEN HOPE—HAVE SUCH EP ROOTS. SO EP THAT MANY NEVER IMAGED THAT EVEN THE FOUNDATN TO BUILD A BRIDGE MIGHT BE POSSIBLE. ADVERTISEMENT STILL, PECIALLY IF YOU’RE A GAY PERSON WHO ME THROUGH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, THERE ARE OTHER PLITNS TO GRAPPLE WH. AS SPIRG AS WHAT FATHER MART IS DOG MAY BE, HOW MUCH IS HE THE GREAT RABOW HOPE AND HOW MUCH IS HE LNAL?HE’S SUCH A KD, UNRSTANDG, CHARMG, AND EMPATHETIC MAN. SOME OF HAVE HAD THOSE CATHOLIC LEARS OUR LIV, THE ON WHO ARE BRAVE ENOUGH TO BE ACCEPTG PUBLICLY, NOT JT IMPLICLY, AND IMPLORE THAT OTHERS BE THE SAME. ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO DON’T WANT TO HEAR . BUT WHEN THE LEARS ARE THE EXCEPTNS—THE BETIFUL, HOPEFUL EXCEPTNS—WE STILL MAY ONLY BE AT BASE MP WHEN TO SLG THE MOUNTA. THE MORE TIME PASS, THE HIGHER THE SUMM SEEMS TO GROW.THERE’S AN SPIRG, FEEL-GOOD ELEMENT TO THE BUILDG A BRIDGE DOCUMENTARY. STRANGELY, THAT MAY BE WHY YOU N’T HELP BUT EMERGE OM FEELG A B JECTED.HOW DO YOU MAKE BOTH F: THE OPTIMISM AND SIRE FOR CHANGE WH THE CYNICISM OF THE CHURCH’S REALY? ESPECIALLY AFTER THE VATIN’S CREE AGAST HOMOSEXUALY MARCH, N FEEL IMPOSSIBLE. BUT WHAT IS FAH, IF NOT CERTU—MAYBE EVEN HOPE— THE FACE OF SUCH IMPOSSIBILY? KEV FALLON
• I LLED FOR CHRISTIANS TO LOVE GAY PEOPLE. NOW THE CATHOLIC ALT-RIGHT IS TAKG REVENGE.

HOW THE ALT-RIGHT IS USG SEX AND CAMP TO ATTRACT GAY MEN TO FASCISM

In his book The Homo and the Negro, O’Meara says that gay whe men reprent the bt of what Wtern culture has to offer bee of their “telligence” and “bety, ” and that “Negro” reprent the worst, beg pable of “achievement. The openg of this movement to cisgenr gay men is a radil change, “one of the biggt chang I’ve seen on the right 40 years, ” says Chip Berlet, -thor of Right-Wg Populism Ameri. Sce around 2010, some (though by no means all) groups the learship of the whe natnalist movement have been vg out cis gay men to speak at their nferenc, wre for their magaz, and be terviewed their journals.

And there are many more gay men (and some trans women) who have been profoundly fluenced by two whe natnalist ias: the “threat” posed by Islam and the “danger” posed by immigrants. Donovan tri to sugarat his own racist beliefs when speakg to his ma fan base, gay men who like his macho looks and straight men om the “pickup artist” culture and the manosphere who are sperately tryg to learn om him how to be manly. He’s parlayed his butch allure to a brand, earng money om a le of T-shirts and wrist guards that say thgs like BARBARIAN and a seri of books that seek to stct both straight and gay men how to bee more mascule and particular, more “vlent.

THE ALT-RIGHT'S ONGOG OBSSN WH DEMONIZG GAY PEOPLE AS PREDATORS

” Though Donovan tri to me the latent sexs vlence for all ’s worth, he is, fact, agast nsensual BDSM, nmng a 2010 say as part of a long list of evils that he feels has been perpetuated by gay culture: the “extreme promiscuy, sadomasochism, transvtism, transsexualy, and flamboyant effemacy” promoted by “the pk-haired, punk rock stepchildren of femism, ” gay activists. If Donovan is a riture of the gay Nazi strongman—almost a personifitn of the phrase “body fascism” (which was origally ed by gay men to crique other gay men’s obssn wh perfect gym bodi)—his unterpart, Jam O’Meara, is an embodiment of somethg that uld barely be imaged until now: Nazi mp. I hate to wre that phrase, bee ’s almost paful to acknowledge that mp—that subversive, gay “turng” of serns to playfulns and straight narrativ to gay on—uld be ployed by a Nazi.

Far femmier than Donovan both looks and tone, O’Meara wr alternately smirkg and playful says for Counter-Currents about men’s clothg, the closeted Cardal Spellman, the “homoromanticism” of the Boy Suts, and the polil enomy of The Gilmore Girls. O’Meara openly lov Hler, but he also groov to the socialist Osr Wil, and, an terview wh the webze Alternative Right, admirgly quot “Bunny” Roger, the gay Brish dandy and World War II hero, as sayg: “Now that I’ve killed so many Nazis Daddy will have to buy me a sable at. ” In a podst, O’Meara said, “The blacks get their chicks pregnant as soon as they turn 15, and have 30 different children wh 10 different women” bee of Jewish schemg: “the poison that the Jewish mentaly troduc” promot heterosexual sex and “girl-crazs” stead of the glor gayns that would domate “if the Jews hadn’t taken over Hollywood.

Polls show that over one third of French gay men supported Le Pen the recent electn spe her promise to end same-sex marriage, and Germany, the far-right AfD recently tapped an out lbian banker to n for chancellor.

THE ALT-RIGHT IS GAY

) Swen’s fascist party anized an LGBTQ pri para through Mlim neighborhoods, and of urse, Holland, Pim Fortuyn and later Geert Wilrs tried to make “Islam” synonymo wh “hatred of gays. Ultimately, ’s a form of pkwashg, which YourDictnary f as “the practice of reprentg somethg … as gay-iendly orr to soften or downplay aspects of s reputatn nsired negative.

Like the many gay men who joed Hler’s SA (the un led by the out Ernst Röhm), they see a Nazi-like movement as somehow offerg salvatn om both antigay and enomic opprsn. Only two days after the massacre at the Pulse nightclub Orlando last year, whe-natnalist meme producer (and proud homophobe) Butch Leghorn wrote on the alt-right webse The Right Stuff, “This shootg [is] a very valuable wedge issue.

A PRIT IS FIGHTG FOR LGBT ACCEPTANCE. THE CATHOLIC ALT-RIGHT WANTS HIM SILENCED.BUILDING A BRIDGECOURTY TRIBE FILM FTIVALFATHER JAM MART SPENT YEARS PLEADG FOR THE CHURCH TO WELE THE LGBT MUNY. AS THE CATHOLIC ALT-RIGHT ATTACKS HIM AND THE VATIN SAYS NO, IS AN IMPOSSIBLE MISSN?KEV FALLONSENR EDOR, OBSSEDUPDATED JUN. 16, 2021 3:39AM EDT / PUBLISHED JUN. 15, 2021 6:35PM EDT FIVE YEARS AGO, ON JUNE 12, 2016, 49 PEOPLE WERE MASSACRED AT THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB ORLANDO. IT WAS, AT THE TIME, THE ADLIT MASS SHOOTG U.S. HISTORY, WH AN ADDNAL 53 PATRONS WOUND. PULSE WAS A PREDOMANTLY LGBT VENUE, AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT’S ALWAYS BEEN TE: FOR THE MARGALIZED LGBT MUNY, THE GAY BAR WAS A PLACE OF ACCEPTANCE. A SANCTUARY. A CHURCH.WHEN A GUNMAN ENTERED THAT GAY CLUB ORLANDO, HE FILTRATED A SAFE SPACE. IT WAS WHERE A GROUP OF PEOPLE CULTIVATED THEIR RASHIP AND INTY, GATHERED SOLIDARY TO BE THEMSELV EELY, EMPOWERED, MA CHANGE, AND, Y, HAD FUN. LIKE PARISHNERS TO A CHURCH, THE PEOPLE—TO CLU THIS WRER, WE—GRAVATE TO THE VENU AS A NATURAL-BORN SURVIVAL MECHANISM. AND THERE, THAT SAFE SPACE, 49 PEOPLE WERE KILLED.FATHER JAM MART REMEMBERS HIS HORROR AT THE NEWS OF WHAT HAPPENED AT PULSE. AND HE REMEMBERS THE POTED, UNIGNORABLE SILENCE AFTERWARD OM THE LEARS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.WH OTHER GUN TRAGEDI, BISHOPS LIVERED STATEMENTS ABOUT STANDG WH THE VICTIMS, OFTEN SPECIFYG, IF APPLIBLE, THE CHURCH NOMATN OR MON AFFILIATN OF THE MUNY THAT WAS ATTACKED. BUT AFTER PULSE, THE ADLIT MASS SHOOTG THE U.S. HAD EVER SUFFERED, ONLY A HANDFUL OF BISHOPS SAID ANYTHG. “THEY WERE SILENT,” FATHER MART SAYS THE NEW DOCUMENTARY, BUILDG A BRIDGE, WHICH PREMIERED TUDAY AT THE TRIBE FILM FTIVAL. “I ULDN’T BELIEVE . IT REALLY ANGERED ME THAT, EVEN ATH, THE PEOPLE WERE LARGELY VISIBLE TO THE CHURCH.”THE CHURCH’S REACTN TO PULSE GALVANIZED FATHER MART, A JU PRIT NEW YORK CY AND EDOR-AT-LARGE OF THE JU MAGAZE AMERI. IN 2017, HE PUBLISHED THE BOOK BUILDG A BRIDGE: HOW THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE LGBT COMMUNY CAN ENTER TO A RELATNSHIP OF RPECT, COMPASSN, AND SENSIVY.HIS OUTREACH HAS TAKEN HIM ON A SPEAKG TOUR THAT CLUD A PRIVATE DIENCE WH POPE FRANCIS. FOR MANY CATHOLICS, HIS SUGGTN THAT THE LGBT MUNY ULD BE EMBRACED WH THE DOCTRE OF THE CHURCH HAS PROVID AN ALMOST ARTICULABLE AND PROFOUND HOPE. FOR MANY OTHERS, CLUDG CHURCH LEARS, HIS IAS AMOUNT TO A REJECTN OF CATHOLIC TEACHGS. RATHER THAN BUILDG A BRIDGE, TO THEM, HE IS TEARG DOWN ONE THAT LEADS TO THE TE CATHOLIC WORD.HIS PUBLIC PROFILE HAS ALSO MA HIM A TARGET OF WHAT HE’S DUBBED THE “CATHOLIC ALT-RIGHT,” WHO ANIZE SOCIAL MPAIGNS AGAST HIM, PROTT HIS SERMONS, AND AMPLIFY THEIR OWN VIEW THAT IS “HOMOHERY” TO SUGGT THAT THE CHURCH WELE LGBT MEMBERS.THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SEEMS TO BE AT AN EXISTENTIAL CROSSROADS WHEN TO THE LGBT ISSUE.IN 2013, POPE FRANCIS SUGGTED A MOVEMENT TOWARD ACCEPTANCE WH HIS FAMO “WHO AM I TO JUDGE?” SPEECH. BUT THIS MARCH, THE VATIN ISSUED A CREE STATG THAT PRITS ULD NOT BLS SAME-SEX UNNS SCE GOD “NNOT BLS S.”FATHER MART, THEN, IS A LIGHTNG ROD A RAGG STORM—AND A RELIGN THAT TAK SUCH ACTS OF GOD SERLY. ADVERTISEMENT SUCH THUNRO TENSN IS AT THE CX OF BUILDG A BRIDGE. DIRECTED BY EVAN MASGNI AND SHANNON POST, THE DOCUMENTARY IS EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY MART SRSE, TO GIVE A SENSE OF THE WEIGHT THE TOPIC RRI.THE FILM IS ABOUT FATHER MART’S MISSN, WHICH HE LAYS OUT EARLY ON: “I WANT TO TALK ABOUT A BRIDGE. AND ’S A BRIDGE BETWEEN THE STUTNAL CHURCH AND THE LGBT CATHOLIC MUNY. HELPG LGBT CATHOLICS FEEL LIKE THEY ARE PART OF THEIR CHURCH, AND THAT THEY ARE WELED AND LOVED. SOME CATHOLICS OBJECT TO THIS, JT PUTTG DLY.” (HE GIGGL AFTER THAT LAST LE.)BUT MORE THAN THAT, ’S ABOUT THE LGBT-INTIFYG CATHOLICS AND FAI WHO HAVE LEFT THE CHURCH BEE OF S TEACHGS. THEY ARE THE PEOPLE WHOSE FAH AND ABILY TO PRACTICE , PROUDLY AND WH A NSCIENCE, IS AFFECTED BY THE NVERSATNS. FOR THE PEOPLE, THIS IS A CRISIS AS MUCH AS IS A DISURSE. IT IS THE CENTER OF WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY BELIEVE. IT IS THEIR SOULS, THEIR MORAL PASS, AND THEIR IA OF ETERNY.THE OFFICIAL VATIN STANCE IS THAT HOMOSEXUALY IS “OBJECTIVELY DISORRED,” THOUGH THE TECHISM PREACH AGAST VLENCE.SPEAKG OM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, WHEN A PERSON WHO GROWS UP THE CATHOLIC CHURCH STGGL WH SEXUALY AND G OUT, VOLV AN TENSE NONTATN WH THE RELIGN THAT HAS BEEN FUNDAMENTAL TO YOUR ENTIRE OUTLOOK ON THE WORLD. “I ULDN’T BELIEVE . IT REALLY ANGERED ME THAT, EVEN ATH, THE PEOPLE WERE LARGELY VISIBLE TO THE CHURCH.” ADVERTISEMENT THAT ENTAILS NSIRG WHAT YOU SERVE OM YOUR CHURCH MUNY AS A GAY PERSON. IT’S WEIGHG IAS LIKE “MORALY” AND “S” JT BEE YOU HAVE THE DACY TO UNRSTAND WHO IS THAT YOU LOVE. IT’S NTEMPLATG WHAT YOUR SALVATN MAY LOOK LIKE.THERE ARE CHOIC TO MAKE. YOU MT GRIEVE THE LOSS OF YOUR FAH AND STEP AWAY, OR YOU MT BE SO CERTA YOUR BELIEFS AND YOUR RELATNSHIP WH GOD THAT YOU N RATNALIZE WHO YOU ARE WH THE CHURCH TEACHGS. THAT’S A LOT OF FAH TO ASK, YET MANY LGBT CATHOLICS MAKE THAT SACRIFICE. AND STILL, THERE ARE MANY CATHOLICS WHO WILL READ ABOUT THAT TRMATIC JOURNEY AND STILL NFORM TO THE TRADNAL TEACHGS.THAT THE PLITED FEELGS AND JOURNEYS ARE GIVEN A SPOTLIGHT IS THE LLATERAL IMPACT OF BUILDG A BRIDGE’S FOC ON FATHER MART’S WORK AND THE VOLATILE REACTN ’S RECEIVED.IN THE FILM, WE WATCH AS HE SENDS A TWEET THAT THE TECHISM TO BOLSTER AN ARGUMENT FOR PASSN TOWARDS THE LGBT MUNY, ONLY TO BE IMMEDIATELY ASSLTED WH VRLIC RPONS OM CATHOLICS WHO DON’T WANT TO HEAR , ACCG HIM OF HERY.THERE’S A LARGE CHUNK OF SCREEN TIME SPENT WH MICHAEL VORIS, A HOST AND ANTAGONIZER FOR LAY APOSTOLATE AND NEWS WEBSE CHURCH MILANT. IN WEB VIOS THAT BLAST WH ALL THE EXTREMISM OF A FOX NEWS SEGMENT, VORIS BRANDS FATHER MART AS CATHOLIC ENEMY NO. 1 FOR HIS “GAYG OF THE CHURCH.”BEFORE HIS REVERSN TO CATHOLICISM, VORIS ENGAGED HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVY. NOW, HE’S A LEADG VOICE THE ORTHODOX TERPRETATN OF THE LGBT MUNY: IT IS NOT TO BE NDONED OR ACCEPTED. ADVERTISEMENT “CHRIST NEVER GIV A BURN OR A CROSS THAT THEY AREN’T PABLE OF RRYG,” VORIS SAYS. “I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE CROSS IS IF YOU’RE FATHER MART AND THE WHOLE GAY THG. YOU N JT GO HAVE SEX WH WHOEVER YOU WANT TO? YOU N JT GET MARRIED AND BE GAY AND THE CHURCH HAS TO NFORM TO YOU? WHERE IS THE SUFFERG? WHERE IS THE SACRIFICE? NO PA, NO GA. IF YOU DO NOT RRY THAT CROSS, YOU DO NOT GET TO THE KGDOM OF HEAVEN.”EVEN THOSE YOU MIGHT EXPECT TO BE ON FATHER MART’S SI LOB SOME OF THE SHARPT CRICISMS.OUT AT ST. PL, A LGBT MISTRY NEW YORK, HELD HEATED NVERSATNS WH FATHER MART AFTER HIS BOOK WAS FIRST PUBLISHED. THEY TOOK ISSUE WH THE IA OF “BUILDG A BRIDGE OM BOTH SIS” BEE THAT PUT AN ON ON THE LGBT MUNY TO BUILD THEIR PART OF THE BRIDGE THEMSELV. HOW ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO BUILD A TWO-WAY BRIDGE WHEN ’S THE CHURCH THAT HAS THE POWER? (FATHER MART CHANGED THAT PART OF THE BOOK FOR S SEND PRTG.)THERE N BE ENDLS BATE ABOUT WHAT FATHER MART IS DOG. BUT ’S THE EMOTN BEHD THAT BATE THAT EMANAT OM THE FILM. “FOR THE PEOPLE, THIS IS A CRISIS AS MUCH AS IS A DISURSE. IT IS THE CENTER OF WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY BELIEVE. IT IS THEIR SOULS, THEIR MORAL PASS, AND THEIR IA OF ETERNY.” CHRISTE LEONEN IS THE MOTHER OF CHRISTOPHER, ONE OF THE VICTIMS OF THE PULSE SHOOTG. IN ONE HEARTBREAKG SEGMENT, SHE TALKS ABOUT HOW LOVED CHRISTOPHER WAS, HOW PROUDLY OUT HE WAS AS A GAY MAN, AND SHOWS THE CLOTH HE WAS WEARG THE NIGHT HE WAS KILLED: A T-SHIRT AND JEANS WH BULLET HOL THROUGH THEM. HER EXPERIENCE GRIEVG HIM AND THE OTHER QUEER PEOPLE WHO WERE MURRED THAT NIGHT, SHE SAYS, GAVE HER A NEW SIGHT TO THE NVERSATN SURROUNDG HOMOSEXUALY AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. ADVERTISEMENT “I LOVED MY SON, BUT BROKE MY HEART TO KNOW THERE WAS ONE KID WHOSE FAY WOULDN’T E TO GET HIM BEE HE WAS GAY, BEE THEY BELIEVED THAT WAS WHAT CATHOLICISM TGHT THEM,” SHE SAYS. “WHY IS THAT THIS CHURCH I BELONG TO, WHY AREN’T THEY FORTG ME?… THEY SHOULD BE MARCHG WH , TALKG WH , BEG WH WHILE OUR KIDS WERE KILLED.”WE MEET THE MSELMAN FAY, WHOSE THREE CHILDREN ALL INTIFY AS LGBTQ. AS PRACTICG CATHOLICS, RECKONG WH THEIR FAH AND THE REJECTN OM THEIR RELIG MUNY IS DIFFICULT.“IT’S HEARTBREAKG—LIKE GUT-WRENCHG, SOUL-CSHG SADNS—TO WATCH SOMEONE LOOK AT YOUR CHILD OR YOUR CHILDREN WH DISGT THEIR EY,” THE MOTHER SAYS. “THEN YOU FEEL LIKE THIS LOSS. LIKE A REAL LOSS. BEE YOU LOVE YOUR KIDS AND WHAT ELSE WERE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO? AND YOU WANT TO KEEP THEM THE CHURCH.”THE FAY IS AMONG THOSE WHO ARE SPIRUALLY HELPED AND HEARTENED BY FATHER MART’S WORK AND HIS IAS. IN FACT, YOU SEE THAT EVERYWHERE FATHER MART GO.THERE ARE PEOPLE, EY WET WH TEARS, SHARG STORI ABOUT HOW BUILDG A BRIDGE AND MART’S TALKS HAVE HELPED THEM E AROUND TO ACCEPTANCE OF THEIR OWN GAY RELATIV. THERE ARE QUEER-QUTNG PEOPLE WHO NFS THEIR FEARS ABOUT G OUT AND HOW THE BOOK IS HELPG THEM WORK THROUGH . THERE ARE OUT GAY CATHOLICS WHO SEE A PATH BACK TO THE CHURCH BEE OF .IT’S EPLY EMOTNAL BEE THE FEELGS—THAT RANGE OM SHAME AND HATRED TO SPERATN AND EVEN HOPE—HAVE SUCH EP ROOTS. SO EP THAT MANY NEVER IMAGED THAT EVEN THE FOUNDATN TO BUILD A BRIDGE MIGHT BE POSSIBLE. ADVERTISEMENT STILL, PECIALLY IF YOU’RE A GAY PERSON WHO ME THROUGH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, THERE ARE OTHER PLITNS TO GRAPPLE WH. AS SPIRG AS WHAT FATHER MART IS DOG MAY BE, HOW MUCH IS HE THE GREAT RABOW HOPE AND HOW MUCH IS HE LNAL?HE’S SUCH A KD, UNRSTANDG, CHARMG, AND EMPATHETIC MAN. SOME OF HAVE HAD THOSE CATHOLIC LEARS OUR LIV, THE ON WHO ARE BRAVE ENOUGH TO BE ACCEPTG PUBLICLY, NOT JT IMPLICLY, AND IMPLORE THAT OTHERS BE THE SAME. ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO DON’T WANT TO HEAR . BUT WHEN THE LEARS ARE THE EXCEPTNS—THE BETIFUL, HOPEFUL EXCEPTNS—WE STILL MAY ONLY BE AT BASE MP WHEN TO SLG THE MOUNTA. THE MORE TIME PASS, THE HIGHER THE SUMM SEEMS TO GROW.THERE’S AN SPIRG, FEEL-GOOD ELEMENT TO THE BUILDG A BRIDGE DOCUMENTARY. STRANGELY, THAT MAY BE WHY YOU N’T HELP BUT EMERGE OM FEELG A B JECTED.HOW DO YOU MAKE BOTH F: THE OPTIMISM AND SIRE FOR CHANGE WH THE CYNICISM OF THE CHURCH’S REALY? ESPECIALLY AFTER THE VATIN’S CREE AGAST HOMOSEXUALY MARCH, N FEEL IMPOSSIBLE. BUT WHAT IS FAH, IF NOT CERTU—MAYBE EVEN HOPE— THE FACE OF SUCH IMPOSSIBILY? KEV FALLON

” Butch and his -activists put out a plethora of mem for the ocsn wh, for example, a rabow flag and the words FUCK ISLAM, and the phras, “To be pro-Islam is to be anti-Gay … Daddy’s gonna build a wall and keep you safe.

One of the many gay people who received, and began avidly sendg out, such mem was Peter Boyk, a 39-year-old, married, whe Virgian who had eight years earlier been spic of Obama bee, as he told me a phone terview, “His name is like Osama b Lan.

” Boyk, who grew up wh nservative Catholic parents who had mpaigned for Ronald Reagan, found an anizatn lled “Gays for Tmp” after he attend a party of the same name at the Republin nventn last July. ” But Boyk is profoundly worried about Mlim immigrants (who, acrdg to a recent Pew poll, are actually more likely to believe tolerance of homosexualy than evangelil Christians) wantg to hurt him: “I keep seeg vios people send me where they’re beheadg the 13-year-old boys and throwg people off of roofs. “When one is unr attack”—not by phantom Mlims, but by real, neighborhood gaybashers—“one picks up whatever shields one n, ” even shields like racism that will not fight the te threat.

I LLED FOR CHRISTIANS TO LOVE GAY PEOPLE. NOW THE CATHOLIC ALT-RIGHT IS TAKG REVENGE.

Rather than simply wrg off the gay men who may be attracted to whe natnalism, Nakagawa says: “It is really important to thk about who those people are, and to try to reach out to them. Rather than monizg men who may long for a strong brotherhood to protect them a society that is creasgly unsafe and un-nourishg for all of , we should unter-anize among them and have the searchg and mted nversatns about racism and sexism that have too often elud the gay muny.