Religion and the LGBT community don’t always go hand in hand. This past weekend, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin made a statement that deviates from what you may hear in regard to homosexuality from a prominent religious figure.

“Anybody who doesn’t show love towards gay and lesbian people is insulting God. They are not just homophobic if they do that — they are actually Godophobic because God loves every one of those people,” Martin said.

Martin made it clear that he doesn’t really deviate from the Catholic Church’s view on gay marriage, but his statement is something that really should change the way religious individuals view homosexuality. Having experienced religious oppression myself, this statement gave me hope and inspired me to change the way that I view religious individuals.

The fact alone that a religious figure is coming out to make these statements is progress. Martin went on to say that he realizes how the religious community has used religion to cause great harm to the LGBT community. Many members of the LGBT community have experienced the negative attitudes from those in the religious community, and this brings forward hope for some harmony between the two.

It is also important that as members of the LGBT community we don’t echo the church’s penchant for intolerance. As an agnostic, I can attest that sometimes I have had a very apathetic views and feelings toward those who express their religious views. Mutual respect, however, really is what is needed in order to move forward.

Demonizing the church makes us just as bad as the individuals that demonize the LGBT community. Although we may be hurt by the oppression we have faced, it is much better to come together and try to understand one another on a basic human level. For as long as I let resentment embitter the way that I viewed the religious community, I felt like an outcast. But as Gandhi once said, “Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding,” and in order to make progress, understanding is key.

dhaynie@mavs.coloradomesa.edu