A "No" to Homophobia, and Homosexual Acts

MEXICO CITY, MARCH 9, 2005 (Zenit.org).- It is one thing not to discriminate against homosexuals -- but quite another to promote same-sex relations.

So says a document published by a commission of the Mexican bishops' conference when analyzing a governmental campaign against homophobia.

"The term 'homophobia' is relatively new and it is used to signify an 'obsessive aversion toward homosexual persons,'" explained the note published by the Family Pastoral Care Commission, signed by its president, Bishop Rodrigo Aguilar Martínez of Matehuala.

"A campaign that promotes that a homosexual person should not be rejected, is something worthy of recognition," it said.

"A homosexual person has all the dignity that corresponds to him/her as the human person that he/she is," the note states. "The Catholic Church does not insult, attack or incite the discrimination of any person; on the contrary, it defends, respects and promotes the dignity of each and all, also homosexuals."

The bishop clarified that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. However, a distinction must be made between the homosexual inclination and homosexual acts. The inclination is disordered in itself, but it does not, on its own, constitute a fault if there is no intention to fuel that inclination through homosexual acts."

The Church "has always stated that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered," Bishop Aguilar observed. "They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not stem from a true emotional and sexual complementarity. They cannot be approved in any case."

The episcopal note was in response to an advertising campaign launched by the Health Secretariat, a ministry of the Mexican government, and the National Center for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS.

Bishop Aguilar's note stated: "If the campaign against homophobia pretends to present to society a homosexual person as a legitimate personal option, with the 'right to be different,' it assumes a position of apparent humanity and respect for the person by attempting to base itself on the criteria of pluralism, tolerance and nondiscrimination.

"However, it is basing itself on false and deceitful anthropological bases, distorting the concepts and language."

The prelate added: "It cannot be upheld that just as some have the inclination to a heterosexual relationship and love, others have the right to a homosexual relationship and love, in a way similar to the acceptance and respect owed to a person regardless of whether he/she is right- or left-handed, or has a different color of skin."
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