Critics Condemn Colorado Springs Catholic Diocese 12-Step Program For Same Sex Attraction

An update on a previous post, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports that the Human Rights Campaign has denounced the Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs for launching a 12-step program for homosexual, Michael Cole-Schwartz, a spokesperson for the Washington, D.C.-based gay advocacy group saying “When the message coming from the church is that (gays) are defective, you are sending a message that makes people uncomfortable.” Ralph Blair, a psychotherapist who heads Evangelicals Concerned, a non-profit based in New York that helps gay Christians accept their homosexuality, also condemned the church program – Twelve Steps of Courage – as deeply misguided. “Twelve steps has worked very well with alcohol abuse,” he said. “But trying to apply it to something as deeply embedded as same-sex attraction is insane.” Bishop Michael Sheridan, one of two facilitators of the program, defended the criticism, underlining that no therapy or psychological counselling is conducted, and that no one is asked to explicitly deny their same sex attraction. “You can accept that you have same-sex attraction,” he said, “but the church also calls us to live chaste lives outside of the marriage.” He added that individuals are free to make choices about their sexuality, and that “Courage is a support group for persons with same-sex attraction who wish to live the natural law values of chastity. The people that come to Courage are looking for support in both the dimensions of self-acceptance and self-restraint.”