Then there's the question of ... why now? The Connolly is an esteemed Off Broadway space that has been producing magnificent work, some of it headed to Broadway, for many decades.

Why has the Archdiocese of New York suddenly decided, after all these decades, that they need veto power over scripts?

This is just another sign of the US Roman Catholic Church lurching further and further to the right, leaning even further into homophobia and transphobia.

I used to attend plays at the Connolly with my late lover and husband-in-all-but legality. Most of the plays we watched there were certainly not in alignment with Catholic dogma and doctrine.

In those days the Archdiocese of New York was fighting desperately to stop HIV education efforts, ensuring that more of us would die of AIDS.

So I thoroughly and very personally understand what an evil organization they are. What I don't understand is why they're upping the ante now in 2024.

This feels like a declaration of war. It feels like priest and bishops doubling down on their already vicious anti-queer hatred.

My husband and I never would have dreamed that this could happen in 2024. But it is happening, and I'm becoming daily more frightened.