DignityUSA is an organization with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, that focuses on LGBT rights and the Catholic Church. Dignity Canada exists as the Canadian sister organization. The organization is made up of local chapters across the country, and functions both as a support and social group for LGBT and LGBT-accepting Catholics to worship together. "The goal of 'Dignity' is to serve as an advocate for change in the Roman Catholic Church's stance on homosexuality",[1] and as an activist group for LGBT rights and education about LGBT issues.[2]
Since 2007, Marianne Duddy-Burke has served as executive director.
History
Dignity was founded in early 1969 in San Diego, California, by Father Patrick Nidorf,[3] first as a counseling group, then as a support group.[1] That makes it a "pre-Stonewall" LGBT organization that is still in existence. The first chapter of Dignity formed in 1970 in Los Angeles.[4]
After its founding in 1969, the Catholic church refused to view Dignity as a church in the overall Catholic Chuch. The Official Catholic Church called for Father Pat to step down from his position. Dignity decided to continue on as a laylit organization. For the church, it was a big turning point: “[The] choice helped shape Dignity into what it is today”.[6] The struggle did not end there. In 1975, the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith published a writing stating concern over any changing of socially exempted gender or sexuality norms. It stated that, “In Sacred Scripture, they are condemned as a serious depravity and even condemned as the sad consequence of rejecting God.”[7] This made acceptance for LGBTQ people even more restricted and led to more homophobia.
On October 1, 1986, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Catholic body charged to "spread sound Catholic doctrine and defend those points of Christian tradition which seem in danger because of new and unacceptable doctrines",[8] issued a letter entitled On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons. In it, the Catholic Church affirmed its position that homosexual activity was "objectively disordered" and that all support should be withdrawn from any organization that undermined the Church's teaching or were ambiguous about or neglectful of it.
During the AIDS crisis, Dignity took a large role in supporting those with AIDS and their families. Many did not even know their loved ones were gay at the time, “We were often with families as they learned their son was gay and did not have long to live, or worse, had died too ashamed or fearful to share these secrets with them.” [9]The organization worked hard to provide care, companionship, spiritual support, cleaning services, nourishment, and funerals for many people with AIDS during a time when so many were dying.
According to writer Neil Miller, an immediate effect of the document was the decision by several American bishops to order that DignityUSA no longer be allowed to hold Mass in Catholic churches. Dioceses in Atlanta, Minneapolis, Buffalo, Brooklyn, Pensacola, Vancouver, Washington, D.C., and New York City all rescinded permission for the organization to hold services on church property. In some cases the group chapters had been holding Masses for a decade or longer.[10]
Honors
DignityUSA was given Call To Action's 1994 Leadership Award.[citation needed]
In 2023, San Francisco Mayor London Breed declared January 15 Dignity/San Francisco Day and issued a proclamation; 2023 was the year of Dignity/San Francisco's fiftieth anniversary.[12][13]
Chapters
As of 2021, there are 37 chapters, in the United States.[14][15] During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were currently 17 offering online services.[16]
Hogan, Steve and Lee Hudson (1998). Completely Queer: The Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia. New York, Henry Holt and Company. ISBN0805036296.
Miller, Neil (1995). Out Of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History From 1869 To the Present. New York, Vintage (a division of Random House). ISBN0099576910.
The National Museum & Archive of Lesbian and Gay History (1996). The Gay Almanac. New York, Berkeley Books. ISBN0425153002.
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