Boston, Mass., Dec 5, 2005 / 22:00 pm
In a stand for Catholic teaching on human sexuality, officials at Boston College have announced the cancellation of a dance sponsored by campus gay, lesbian and transgender organizations.
The dance, which was scheduled to mark the close of AIDS Awareness Week on campus, had been sponsored by the school’s GLBT Leadership Council (GLC), the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Community at Boston College, and Allies groups.
According to The Heights, a campus newspaper, University spokesman Jack Dunn said that "The University's policy is that students apply for permits for events through the Office of the Dean for Student Development.”
“Upon reviewing the request,” he said, “ODSD and Student Affairs concluded, appropriately, that they could not endorse an event that advocated a position that was in conflict with church teaching."
Organizers said that the event, originally called "The GLC Diversity Ball: A Night in Gay Paris - A Safe Zone Event," and changed to “AIDS Benefit Gala: A Celebration of Diversity - A Safe Zone Event," was designed in an effort to build community.
Funds from the dance were slated to support the Boston Living Center, a local non-profit which cares for HIV/AIDS sufferers.
A number of students and faculty argued that the dance’s cancellation was an act of discrimination.
Student Samantha Koller told the Heights that "The student body is far more open-minded and open-hearted than the administration…This unabashed discrimination was an appalling violation of student rights."
Dunn however, disagrees. "What we're doing”, he said, “is what all 238 Catholic universities in the United States would do. As a Catholic university, we cannot sanction an event that promotes a lifestyle that is in conflict with church teaching."