In response to the Orange County Board of Supervisors voting to exclude Pride Flags from being flown outside of county offices, Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton) released the following statement.
“It is deeply unsettling that the Orange County Board of Supervisors has made the decision to prohibit the flying of Pride flags, particularly during Pride Month. Orange County stands for the principles of collaboration, compassion, and inclusivity, and it is disheartening to witness such a display of exclusion and intolerance,” said Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva. “Furthermore, the recent incidents of violence in Glendale, where the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education encountered chaos and violence while acknowledging June as Pride Month, only add to the distressing wave of intolerant behavior. This pattern of conduct is utterly unacceptable. I want to emphasize that my office unequivocally stands in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ community. We are committed to nurturing safe and inclusive spaces for all families and individuals who face discrimination, intolerance, and acts of violence.”
Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva represents the 67th Assembly District, which includes the Orange County communities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, and La Palma, as well as the Los Angeles County communities of Artesia, Cerritos, and Hawaiian Gardens.
Share this:
Categories: Local Government, Local News
While this is somewhat tricky because the Catholic Church has a centuries long doctrine (since St. Thomas Acquinas) based on natural law (based on the answer to the question: what is the purpose / end of the action being considered?) which produces the conclusion that sex between two homosexuals is necessarily (intrinsically) deficient (it can not produce a child…).
HOWEVER, this is _exactly_ why the Catholic Church has been against birth control, as using birth control necessarily (intrinsically) diminishes the sexual act, this because a / the primary purpose of birth control is to greatly reduce or eliminate the possibility of producing a child in the sexual act.
As such _even a married heterosexual using birth control_ ought to understand that he/she is violating the same point of Catholic doctrine as a homosexual engaging in sexual activity.
So one, certainly a Catholic using birth control, ought to be very careful about “casting stones” and seeking to marginalize _in some unique way_ those who are homosexuals.
Indeed, while homosexuality is generally understood today to be _not a chosen orientation_, anyone using the pill or putting on a condom, is clearly _choosing to do so_.
I say all this becuase it’s rather clear that in our Right vs Left “Culture Wars” in recent months there has been a rather concerted effort on the Right to focus on attacking the homosexual community in this country, to try to put it back in its place.
A local expression of this is the attempt now to _find excuses_ to take down its flags, especially during this month, that the homosexual community has designated as a month to underline its presence, its dignity and as a reminder of its past persecution / mistreatment.
If indeed there is a new campaign being launched to put down the homosexual community, then it is up to the Community of Faith to stand up and _defend_ the homosexual community under the banner of NEVER AGAIN.
We can all remember the Prayer of Martin Neimoller, itself changed various times over the decades, but below is the version that I grew up with (and is FOOTNOTED below underline accuracy):
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak out
because I was Protestant;
Finally, they came for me —
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
source: https://www.age-of-the-sage.org/quotations/niemoller_jews_communists_socialists.html
And the line about Catholics comes from the version that Rev. Martin Niemoller himself proclaimed when he addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress in 1968 and is recorded as such in the Congressional Record, October 14, 1968, page 31636.
My parents lived under two sets of dictators (both the Nazis and the Communists). Honestly for me and the whole of my family — NEVER AGAIN.
Fr. Dennis Kriz, OSM