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Resource Database

Cover wdt_ID Author Title Synopsis Link to Resource
1 Barnes, Hazel (Editor) Taylor, Sandra Author) And GOD saw it all was very good: Catholic LGBT in Europe Telling Their Stories “The stories of the LGBT Catholics in this book will make a difference in your life” assures Sister Jeannine Gramick in her prologue. Here you will find 34 personal stories divided into the six themes of: Family - Is Catholicism home? - A religious life?
2 Owens-Reid, Dannielle and Kristin Russo This Is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids: A Question and Answer Guide to Everyday Life Written in an accessible Q&A format, here, finally, is the go-to resource for parents hoping to understand and communicate with their gay child. Through their LGBTQ-oriented site, the authors are uniquely experienced to answer parents' many questions and
3 Bowman, Alisa, and Angello, Michele Raising the Transgender Child: A Complete Guide for Parents, Families, and Caregivers. 2017 Offers much-needed answers to all the questions parents and other adults ask about raising and caring for transgender and gender diverse children: Is this just a phase? Did I do something to cause this? How do we protect these children? Who should I tell
4 Colt, and Ehrensaft, DianeKeo-Meier The Gender Affirmative Model: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Supporting Transgender and Gender Expansive Children.  2018 Provides mental health professionals with a guide to the gender affirmative model, learning how to enable children to live as their authentic gender with the necessary social supports. The authors, Keo- Meier, a clinical psychologist and transgender queer
5 Nealy, Elijah C. Transgender Children and Youth: Cultivating Pride and Joy with Families in Transition 2017 parents, teachers, and mental health professionals. These days it is practically Forimpossible not to hear about some aspect of transgender life. Whether the bathroom issue, trans people in the military,, or on television, trans life has become front
6 Lee, Airton Gender: Your guide: A Gender- friendly primer on what to say and what to do in the new Gender culture 2018 From the differences among gender identity, gender expression, and sex, to the use of gender-neutral pronouns like singular they/them, to thinking about your own participation in gender, Gender: Your Guide serves as a complete primer to all things gender
7 Robertson, J. Brandon Gospel of Inclusion.  A Christian Case for LGBT+ Inclusion in the Church.2019The Pastor and public theologian Brandan Robertson offers a compelling assessment of the biblical texts, cultural context, and modern social movements to suggest that the entire thrust of the Christian gospel calls the church towards the deconstruction of all
8 Bayly, Michael J. Creating Safe Environments For LGBT Students: A Catholic Schools Perspective 2007 The book offers step by step directions for a series of five staff training sessions. The sessions are designed to guide participants through recognizing the need for Safe Staff who can compassionately respond to LGBT youth (and all youth questioning thei
9 Sadowski, Michael Better Schools For LGBTQStudents: Safe is not Enough 2013 While progress on LGBTQ issues in schools remains slow, in many parts of the country schools have begun making strides toward becoming safer, more welcoming places for LGBTQ students. Schools typically achieve this by revising antibullying policies and es
10 Shane, Kryss Educator’s Guide to LGBT+Inclusion, 2020 Setting out best practices and professional guidance for creating LGBT+ inclusive learning in schools, this approachable and easy to follow book guides teachers, educators, administrators, and school staff toward appropriate and proven ways to create safe
Cover Author Title Synopsis Link to Resource

Resources and Website Links

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER COMES OUT – A GUIDE FOR PARENTS  — Some advice from Kathy Godwin, board vice president for the organization PFLAG, which supports the LGBT community and helps to educate parents, families and friends.

LGBT+ AND CHURCH PUBLICATIONS:
(these are links, click on them to go to the doc)

Fr, James Martin, SJ, writes about building a bridge between the Church and the LGBT+ community in America Magazine. 

Chicago’s Cardinal Blase  Cupich – “dialogue is not a dirty word, it is OUR word!”  Cupich said he also has invited LGBT Catholics to come talk with him as part of his own desire for dialogue.

USCCB “Always Our Children.”

CARDINAL TOBIN WELCOMES LGBT PILGRIMAGE TO HIS CATHEDRAL

NEW JERSEY CARDINAL OFFERS HISTORIC WELCOME TO LGBT PERSONS

Pastor decides that young gay couple tragically killed would have joint funeral Mass in parish church. Diocese stands by the pastoral decision. 

Cardinal Cupich: Pope Francis’ ‘field hospital’ calls us to radically rethink church life

BOOKS

Always My Child: A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Your Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered or Questioning Son or Daughter by Kevin Jennings. [NY: Skylight Press, 2003]. Updated, good, general book for parents.

Are There Closets in Heaven? A Catholic Father and Lesbian Daughter Share Their Story.  Carol Curoe and Robert Curoe. [Syren Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, 2007]. “… testimony to the power faith and love can play in bringing families together.”

Coming Out to Parents: A Two-Way Survival Guide for Lesbian Women and Gay Men and Their Parents. Mary Borhek [Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1993]. Not specifically geared to Catholics, but may be the best of the general books for parents.

Creating Safe Environments for LGBT Student: A Catholic School Perspective. Michael J. Bayly. [Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press, 2007]. How to train the staff of your Catholic high school to meet the special needs of LGBT students.

Fortunate Families: Catholic Families with Lesbian Daughters and Gay Sons. Mary Ellen Lopata. [Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing, 2003]. Specifically related to Catholic families, with stories and a full chapter on pertinent church teaching.

Setting the Table: Preparing Catholic Parishes to Welcome Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People and Their Families. James A. Schexnayder . “… offers helpful suggestions … on how the Church … may engage and integrate LGBT persons into the life and ministries of the Church.” Most Rev. Joseph M. Sullivan.

Sexual Ethics: A Theological Introduction. Todd A. Salzman and Michael G. Lawler [Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2012]. “… a Catholic book on sexual morality that ‘people in the pews’ and ‘my students’ can understand … and therefore more enlightening on common questions about sexual morality as they arise for Catholics in the contemporary world.”

Sexual Diversity and Catholicism. Edited by Patricia Beattie Jung, with Joseph Andrew Coray [Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2001]. Essays exploring relationship between contemporary biblical scholarship and Roman Catholic magisterial teachings about the morality of homosexuality.

This Remarkable Gift–Being Gay and Catholic.  Maurice Shinnick [St. Leonard’s, Australia: Allen and Unwin, 1997]. Written by a priest, combines real-life stories and experience. Considered, prayerful, faithful analysis of Church teaching, especially in light of Vatican II.

What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality: Millennium Edition Updated and Expanded. Daniel A. Helminiak [New Mexico: Alamo Square Press, 2000]. Concise, readable book solidly based on modern biblical scholarship. His conclusion: “If people would still seek to know outright if gay or lesbian sex is good or evil…they will have to look somewhere else for an answer.”

NB-— Fortunate Families provides this list but cannot endorse these or any books. We stand by Catholic Social Teaching about the dignity of the human person and the Gospel mandate to work together for the common good.