Posted on 04/14/2023 9:10:29 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. -- Another speaker has sparked controversy on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus after students received an email Wednesday morning that Catholic author Kim Zember would discuss her experiences with homosexuality and life with Christ Thursday evening.
At first glance, many students felt excited that UW-Madison would host a speaker that promoted acceptance of LGBTQIA+ people in the Catholic faith.
"I was honestly kind of happy initially upon seeing the email," student Mia Warren said. "It used a lot of LGBTQIA+ affirming language, and I think the main message of the email was love wins."
But upon further research, many students say they felt uncomfortable and hurt after reading that Zember's memoir, "Restless Heart," discusses how the author "freed herself from a homosexual lifestyle" and stopped acting on those desires.
"I just thought they should've been more explicit with what the event was instead of trying to make it an inclusive thing," student Rachel Delmar said. "That is actually really harmful to the LGBTQ+ community on campus and it just contributes to the violence and targeting of them on campus."
Members of Badger Catholic, the organization that hosted the event, said that alienating students was the opposite of what they wanted to do.
"We tried to keep [the wording] a little bit more simple and vague in some ways because we wanted to be inviting and not just market towards the Catholic community on campus, but also to everyone," Badger Catholic Vice President Alexis Bakke said.
Badger Catholic's president Max Sherwin said he hopes people listen to the talk before judging Zember's views.
"We're on a university, which is a marketplace of ideas," Sherwin said. "We want to sort of make that reality and start a conversation here on campus about what we believe and sort out some of the things that we think are misunderstood about our group and what we profess."
Warren, who is a member of campus sexual health organization Sex Out Loud, said they provided resources outside the event for members of the LGBTQIA+ community and are hosting peer-to-peer counseling throughout the week for students who feel unwelcome or upset.
"I just want to let folks know who are going that may take away a message that is not what they intended to take, to know that they're heard, they're seen, they're valid, and they have a lot of resources that are there for them," Warren said.
A recorded livestream of the event can be found on the Badger Catholic Facebook page.
Sounds like she made a good choice, to me.
See? Living your life against God is a CHOICE! A CHOICE!
That's one thing a university is SUPPOSED to be ...
And it’s a very unwise choice!
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