Following the approval of the newly proposed Living Learning Community (LLC) which seeks to provide a space for students to explore gender and sexuality in Georgetown University, the far-right conservatives of the said institution vehemently disagreed on the proposal, citing that the university is abandoning its Catholic values.
By virtue of its teachings, the Catholic church believes that sexual relationships belonging to the LGBT community are sinful. But the Catholic church recently clarified its stance that it does not hate the LGBT people; what is sinful for them are the actions of these LGBT people.
According to a report by Georgetown U’s student newspaper The Hoya , the LLC’s theme is “Crossroads: Gender and Sexuality” and is intended to serve as a community space for conversations about inclusivity issues regarding gender and sexual orientation while remaining true to the values of the Jesuits. The paper also added that the university already has 13 other communities relating to this, where about 500 students are housed.
The soon erection of the LLC is welcomed by LGBT students in Georgetown despite details regarding it still being finalized. For now, there are already online applications featuring questions aimed at gauging students’ interest in the said community and how it will help them explore their gender and sexuality.
Georgetown University students told The Hoya that the housing will definitely help LGBT students. President of the LGBT advocacy group GUPride and coordinator for the LCC Chad Gasman noted that trans students in the university have a very difficult and stressful process in applying for housing. He hopes to change this dilemma through the LLC.
The right-wing conservatives, however, are not happy with this development because, according to them, this runs contrary to the very teaching of the Jesuits and the Catholic church.
According to Washington Times ‘ columnist Cheryl Chumley, what this newly planned arrangement will do is water down gender definitions even further — while ratcheting confusions and political correctness and fears to speak truthfully about the role of biology and God in determining sex.
“There’s probably no use in pointing this out — minds have been made up and it’s the secularist-minded and radical leftists who’ve won at Georgetown. But just in case there are fence straddlers on this issue: Gender is not something decided while dressing for the day. Sex is determined at birth, by God, and no amount of human wish and will can change that truth.”
University officials, meanwhile, called on its community to engage with respect, compassion, and sensitivity with the LGBT community. Todd Olson, the vice president of student affairs of the university, specifically said that the proposed LLC is in keeping with the school’s Catholic and Jesuit values to provide a language, perspective, and sense of inclusion for deepening its sense of care for the whole person.