Religion and LGBTQ+: Embracing Two Worlds | Vincent Mascarenas | TEDxMoreauCatholicHS

[Music] growing up in a first-generation Filipino family religion was always the forefront of the household I can remember the first house I lived in was adorned with crosses rosaries and Santoni newest religion has always been a big part of my life I've been attending Catholic school now for 18 years so I've been deeply educated on theology I learned about who God was what he did for us and why we pray to him I proudly claim my faith and did what I could to serve the church through altar serving being a youth leader for my church community's confirmation students and by being on campus ministry here Amuro I underwent the sacraments from baptism to First Communion to confirmation but I wasn't always a proud Catholic there were a few times in my life in which I questioned the existence of God once when I was a child and couldn't comprehend the mere existence of a higher power and another time when I was beginning to unravel my sexual identity which of course contradicts the teachings I was taught as a Catholic before I could even understand what being LGBT was and what it meant I can remember that I always questioned the Church's stance on the LGBT community I thought to myself if we're all supposed to be created in the image and likeness of God why is it that this particular group of people are scrutinized for being who they are this was my first hesitation and being Catholic I always knew that there was something that set me apart from the other boys in my grade I was always the most sensitive one crying at seemingly the smallest things I much preferred being friends with the girls over the immature boys I wasn't aggressive and I was always conscientious of other people's feelings and I never really had crushes on any of the girls well the other boys did little did I know it was my sexuality that set me apart from the rest of them in the sixth grade I was insulted by one of my classmates calling me gay this happened over a group video call with other classmates and I can vividly remember one of the first things I did after that happened was I shut my laptop instantly and I began breathing heavily I was struck with fear in my adolescent mind this became the second instance in which being gay was deemed as a bad thing therefore I thought that being associated with such a thing was unacceptable even the mere possibility of being gay terrified me the word gay was caustic singing every time I heard it spat in my direction and to avoid being targeted I decided that I needed to blend in to conform I tried adopting traits and mannerisms that were associated with being straight I tried hanging out with the boys more I spoke with a deeper voice I started having crushes on girls and I said immature things all of this felt unnatural to me but essential to be accepted and yet despite my conscious efforts in hiding who I really was my sexuality demanded to be known when I first came out I remember receiving overwhelming support for my friends many of whom stated that they were proud I was accepting of who I was but the thing is I really wasn't yeah I could be myself around my friends but I still switched my personalities in front of my family I never felt safe in discussing such topics with my family so I thought it would be better to not even mention it to them coming from a Catholic family I was fearful of what they could have said due to their religious upbringing from what I'd seen on the media it was radical Christians who tested at LGBT events holding signs saying things such as God hates gays so if God hates me would that mean my family would hate me too but of course they eventually found out and their initial reaction was not what I had hoped for I was given the classic maybe it's just a phase talk but I wouldn't hear them out I now understand that the initial ignorant my family had had stem from their Filipino background of faith and tradition my family's home country of the Philippines is considered to be one of the most LGBT friendly countries in Asia but statistics prove otherwise in 2008 alone there were 29 transgender murders and in 2011 there were 28 LGBT related killings while this may sound like such a long time ago these numbers are not insignificant while there is tolerance of the community there's still no acceptance there is still no official government recognition of same-sex couples in the Philippines Taiwan being the only Asian country in doing so the Catholics Bishop Conference of the Philippines has stated that the church won't tolerate same-sex marriage adding on that being LGBT is simply just a choice the President of the Philippines mr. Rodrigo Duterte has stated that he cured himself of being gay by surrounding himself with beautiful women this statement is beyond ridiculous it insinuates that being gay is merely a disease that can be fixed through so-called cures to have the leader of a nation say something that ignorant influences the people of that nation further making the divide even wider the Philippines like other Asian cultures is largely influenced by religion the Philippines is the only Christian dominated nation in Asia with more than 86% of the population identifying as Roman Catholic understanding that religion played a role in the poor treatment of the LGBT community I began to disassociate from it religion was the cause of my disputes with my parents religion was the reason I felt like being gay was unacceptable religion was no longer for me why would I want to associate with a God who lets me feel shame for being Who I am why would I want to be part of a community who invalidates my sexuality by simply stating it's just a choice my religion and my sexuality are two most are two very important aspects to Who I am but they were compromising each other it became a matter of which one I wanted to keep in my life and so I kept my sexuality my identity my authentic self my sexuality had been such an extreme internal struggle I had for years and I couldn't surround myself in an environment that invalidated this important part of me that I spend so long in trying to figure out but despite this I still continued going to confirmation class because my mom had already paid for it and I didn't one deal with the trouble of getting out so last minute I thought I would get nothing out of going until I met Patrick a gay youth leader who embraced his sexuality unlike anyone I've ever met I looked to him as a role model because I saw myself in him when going to confirmation classes I noticed that he was both proud and his sexuality and his faith I saw that his peers were welcoming of him and welcomed all kinds of people he told me of his struggles with his faith in sexuality and effectively comforted me while I was going through those same hardships he helped me realize that these two parts to my identity didn't have to be separated God acted through him to show me the my sexuality was nothing to be ashamed of his guidance helped me intertwine the two most integral aspects to my identity my faith and my sexuality coexisted in harmony no longer did I have to consume parts of myself my faith and not only my religion but myself was renewed and I knew I had to be that same role model for others understanding seeing as though it seems like the LGBT community and the Catholic Church are opposed to each other what can we do to close the gap the first step in closing that gap is for both communities to come together to have an open discussion some of the most prominent protesters at LGBT events are radical Christians and although they aren't representative of the entire church it's enough to deter an LGBT person from interacting with anyone from the church the first step in beginning to understand and accept me that my parents took was to have a conversation about it this may be a small and short conversation but simply addressing the issue at hand is a huge step in the right direction when my parents made the effort to reach out to me to talk about my sexuality I felt I'd be actually cared about understanding who I was we all look to our parents whenever we need comfort in our lives and I'm grateful that they made the conscious effort to reach out to me to make me feel like they actually cared about me and despite their initial reaction to my coming-out I'm happy to say that with time and many conversations my parents are now loving and accepting of Who I am today thankfully there are organizations within the Catholic Church already taking steps to bridge the gap between the two communities such as the new ways ministry organization founded in 1977 with its mission statement being through research publication and education about sexual orientation and gender identity we foster dialogue among groups and in vigils identify and combat personal and structural homophobia and transphobia work for changes in attitudes and promote the acceptance of LGBT people as full and equal members of church and society father James Martin author of building a bridge how the Catholic Church and the LGBT community can enter into a relationship of respect compassion and sensitivity highlights ways in which both groups can reach out to one another when I read this book it gave me so much hope knowing that there are members of the church actively trying to help one another reach out to the LGBT community coming out is never an easy feat remember that first and foremost being gay is not a choice I and the many other LGBT people do not choose to be this way this is simply who we are no we are confused and we aren't influenced by external factors we know that this is a part of us second be open to discussing such topics with others don't be ignorant educate yourselves on these issues because they can affect real people around you some of you may even know someone that was once in a similar situation that I was in and lastly don't pretend that the issue doesn't exist too often people ignore the issue which only further widens the gap between the LGBT community and the Catholic Church under all the issues and controversies surrounding the LGBT community people often forget that we are people too we have our own sets of beliefs we live we love we experience pain just like everyone else - the parents don't invalidate your child sexual or gender identity understanding who you are and where you fit in this world can be confusing and scary by saying things such as the church won't accept such actions you're driving away your child from you and the religion you want to bless them with at at their baptism I couldn't imagine my life without being gay and without being Catholic both are now integral aspects to my identity in which I'm immensely proud to showcase we need to stop treating religion and sexuality as two separate entities that can now coexist when in fact they can if we are able to bridge this gap to show that you can take pride in both the church will gain a wonderful group of people who offer unique gifts to their community LGBT Catholics can serve as mentors for other struggling youth similar to what Patrick was for me and what I aspire to be for others thank you [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 17,308

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Life, Empathy, LGBT, Religion, Sexual Orientation

Id: 38Wq6cifcx0

Length: 14min 5sec (845 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 14 2020