I will oppose and hold in contempt those who believe and teach that I am depraved and disordered. Nuns and priests do believe that. I know that for a close-up, personal fact. So I despise them. I also know that the Jesuit Pope Francis refuses to allow discussion of reforming that doctrine. So I despise him, and I would even if he hadn't called gay men faggots recently - twice, with no apology.

You tell me my indignation about being slurred will poison me. Was John Brown poisoned when he fought enslavers? I don't think so! I hold you in a lot of contempt right now for trying to suggest I'm the problem instead of the institution that teaches that I am depraved and disordered.

I'm going to put this in all caps again, because it matters, and because you don't seem to care.

I AM NOT DEPRAVED!!!!!

I AM NOT DISORDERED!!!!!

To take their vows, nuns and priests must affirm that I am depraved and disordered. That fills me with grief, pain, anger and disdain.

I really don't care how many gay Uncle Toms attend your church. That does nothing to change the fact that your Church teaches sickening, horrifying things about me and the people I love.

It hasn't escaped my attention that you've neither apologized for that nor called out those teachings as unacceptable and false.

I lived in Chelsea for ten years when I was a member of Act Up, and I hung out on Christopher St almost every day.

The Catholic Archdiocese of New York fought us tooth and nail, every step of the way as we struggled to provide life-saving safer-sex education and condoms. As we called on our government to stop being apathetic to our fate. To stop killing us with their inaction.

So don't talk to me about the Catholic Church. I wasn't born yesterday.

I once had a friend who was a nun, who I thought was progressive - until she wrote an op-ed urging people to be prayerful about the Church's "depraved and disordered" teachings, that the Church's traditions are ancient and inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that those teachings should not lightly be changed.

I called her up and told her to go fuck herself. Every possibility of friendship ended with her horrifying statement endorsement of that vicious evil.

She sounded shocked by my reaction. Perplexed. That shows you exactly how evil and twisted she is. She couldn't muster up enough empathy and human decency to understand why I was angry. She insisted I needed to be "open minded" about being called depraved and disordered.

So don't talk to me about the Catholic Church. I wasn't born yesterday.

Even the so-called LGBTQ ally James Martin, a Jesuit priest, has proclaimed over and over that he is "in accord" with every teaching of the Catholic Church - which means he believes I am depraved and disordered. Hell, I once read an article he wrote in which he urged gay people to understand that it's not so bad that the Church calls us depraved and disordered.

What a sickening homophobe James Martin is. With "friends" like that disgusting monster, as they say, who needs enemies?

So don't talk to me about the Catholic Church. I wasn't born yesterday.

Also, my family name is not a coincidence. Almost my entire extended family -- a rather huge Irish-American clan in the Midwest -- are Catholic. One of my cousins is a social worker. She had to quit her job at the parish school because she was being ordered to be cruel and teach cruel things to queer high-school kids. She quit rather than obey the orders of the disgusting monsters (priests) who run the parish. Tragically, most of the rest of the family are too apathetic to raise a stink over the fact that their Church teaches that I am depraved and disordered.

And then there's you, today, trying to gaslight me by telling me I'm the problem. Check, received loud and clear.

Don't talk to me about the Catholic Church. I wasn't born yesterday.

I AM NOT DEPRAVED!!!!!!

I AM NOT DISORDERED!!!!!