CTA Community Leaders Present LGBTQ+ Event: “Finding Your Voice”
On Wednesday, January 18, CTA’s Community Leaders will host Dr. Bradley Leger and his presentation: “Finding Your Voice: Walking with the LGBTQ+ Community and Learning How to Respond to Non-Supportive Faith Community Members.”
This presentation invites attendees to reflect on how to best organize and facilitate conversations between LGBTQ+ Catholics, allies, and church leaders. Keeping in mind Call To Action’s mission to “educate, inspire and activate Catholics to act for justice,” Leger will inspire each and everyone one of us to strategize how we can ensure our local communities and parishes are acting toward LGBTQ+ justice.
Even amidst the great civil rights gains that the U.S. LGBTQ+ community has made over the last decade, issues related to gender identity and sexual orientation remain contentious within the institutional Catholic Church and many lay Catholic communities. Each cry for LGBTQ+ justice results in serious and sometimes violent pushback from many faith leaders and even certain segments of the laity.
These attitudes and reactions toward the LGBTQ+ community are also part of our country’s public discourse, which can ultimately affect the passage of civil laws and policies. These policies range from local school and library boards, municipal and state judiciaries, state legislatures, and Congress.
This reflective yet interactive evening will include a presentation, small and large group discussions, and a short Q&A.
This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Register here to receive the Zoom link.
Image courtesy of Bradley Leger
About the presenter: Dr. Bradley Leger is an educator, spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and liturgical musician based in the New Orleans, Louisiana metro area. He has been involved with LGBTQ+ ministry and professional development with various groups for a number of years. Besides his own ministries, Brad is also involved with two major U.S. Catholic-based LGBTQ+ ministry groups: Fortunate Families and the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative LGBTQ+ Initiative Team. With Fortunate Families, he is a member of the Evangelization Ministry Team and the Transgender Accompaniment Ministry, walking with transgender individuals and their families. The Marianist Social Justice Collaborative team works toward the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals within church and society. He is a member of Dignity USA and his local PFLAG Chapter. He has experience with diversity and equity efforts in higher education and has worked with various groups on issues dealing with community, leadership, economic development, and social justice. Over the years, he has been involved with international agricultural development efforts in countries of the former Soviet Union and the continent of Africa. Brad holds degrees in Agricultural Education from LSU and a Master of Pastoral Studies from Loyola University-New Orleans.
This event will tap into Pope Francis’ call for Catholics to genuinely enter into authentic dialogue with each other. We’ll challenge ourselves to reflect on the following questions:
How do we invite, organize and facilitate crucial conversations between members of the LGBTQ+ community, allies, church leadership, and laity?
How do we navigate conflicting messages from the church magisterium?
How do we walk with and support school and church employees who are losing their jobs because of who they are and who they love?
What if they are being silenced/censored by Catholic administrations because of their desire to publicly support LGBTQ+ issues?
How can we best support queer students and make them feel comfortable in the Catholic school environment?
What are some effective, current resources into we can tap?
CTA’s Community Leaders host guest speakers throughout the year. Please consider donating so we may keep providing this programming. Every donation, no matter how small, counts.
