Catholic University Denies Recognition to LGBT Student Group

Administrators said that despite students' reassurances, they feared the group would become an advocacy organization rather than a support group.

Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., has rejected a request for university recognition of an LGBT student group, CUAllies, but supporters are vowing to fight on.

University administrators turned the group down this month because, they say, they fear it will become an advocacy organization, Metro Weekly reports. But organizers say they have repeatedly reassured administrators that CUAllies “would not actively promote causes that might be in conflict with Catholic Church with regard to homosexuality,” the paper notes.

Leaders of CUAllies may seek to put the question of recognition to a university-wide student vote. If a majority of students voted in favor of the group, the administration could still override this, but it would show the degree of support for the organization, said Ryan Fecteau, speaker of the Student Association and a former CUAllies director. Most members of the Student Association and representatives of several other campus groups supported CUAllies.

CU had an officially recognized gay and lesbian student group from 1988 to 2002, Fecteau noted. Also, some other Catholic universities sanction LGBT student groups. The University of Notre Dame in Indiana this month announced it would recognize an LGBT group, something students had sought for years, and Georgetown University in D.C. has had an LGBTQ Resource Center since 2008.

