ACT-UP has pledged to demonstrate on Easter Sunday outside the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and is contemplating an invasion of the sanctuary during Mass. ACTUP has targeted the Washington church because Cardinal James Hickey is scheduled to say Mass there on Sunday. Cardinal Hickey recently criticized comments made by Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the Surgeon General, in the gay magazine, the Advocate. Responding to ACT-UP’s pledge, Dr. William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, made one of his own.

“If ACT-UP invades the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Easter Sunday, the Catholic League will do everything it can to use the full force of the law against these gay terrorists. Invading houses of worship is what Nazis do, and there is literally no difference between busting into a service in a synagogue and busting into a Roman Catholic church during a Mass. Both are equally despicable acts of terrorism.

“In the event the invasion takes place, the Catholic League will immediately seek a plaintiff for a challenge in court. If RICO (the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) can be used against anti-abortion demonstrators, then surely it can be used against church-busters. Justice demands that those who bully people exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of religion pay a high price for their conduct.

“Furthermore, the Catholic League endorses the remarks made by Cardinal Hickey in a letter he wrote to President Clinton regarding the objectionable statements that Dr. Elders made in her interview in the March 22nd issue of the Advocate. Dr. Elders’ crude characterization of those whose religious faith she disagrees with, along with her reckless comments on homosexuality, leave much for Cardinal Hickey to dispute. But even if we were not in agreement with the Cardinal, that would hardly excuse the threats of ACT -UP spokesman Wayne Turner.

“What ACT-UP is threatening has nothing to do with civil disobedience: it is terrorism, pure and simple. We hope that reason prevails and the contemplated invasion is scratched. If not, the Catholic League will act quickly and decisively against the terrorists.”

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization. It defends the right of Catholics–lay and clergy alike–to participate in American life without defamation or discrimination.

The decision of some New York politicians not to march in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade shows preference for the interests of Jews over Catholics.

Dr. William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, made the following comments today:

“In an incredible show of unadulterated bigotry, favoritism and hypocrisy, several New York office holders have decided that they will not march in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, even though they marched in the Salute to Israel Parade last spring. The sponsors of these events, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the American Zionist Youth Foundation, respectively, have consistently rejected, on moral and religious grounds, the appeals of gays and lesbians to march as a separate group in their parades. [Note: the New York Times, in its March 15th editorial, incorrectly said that ‘the Hibernians are the only ones staging a march that excludes people because they are open about a different sexual orientation.’] But only the St. Patrick’s Day Parade is targeted for a boycott by certain politicians.

“In the Salute to Israel Parade that occurred on May 9, 1993, notables such as Gov. Mario Cuomo,  Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger, Comptroller Alan Hevesi (he was then a New York State Assemblyman) and Public Advocate Mark Green (at the time he was Director of Consumer Affairs) joined in the march even though a contingent of gays and lesbians were barred from attending. These same people now tell us that they will not parade with Irish Catholics because gays and lesbians have been denied the right to march as a separate unit.

“The decision by Cuomo, Messinger, Hevesi and Green shows more than contempt for principle: it shows preferential treatment of Jews over Catholics. The utter contempt that these office holders have for the interests of Catholics–and in particular for the Irish–along with their politically correct posture toward Jews, demonstrates a new low in New York politics. More respect is due those few who elected to boycott both parades than to those who marched with Jews while snubbing Catholics.

“Hypocrisy among politicians is not exceptional. What is exceptional is the openness and boldness of this rank display of favoritism.”

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization. It defends the right of Catholics–lay and clergy alike–to participate in American life without defamation or discrimination.

On March 20th, Dr. William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, will give the keynote address at this year’s annual Communion Breakfast of the Holy Name Society of the New York City Police Department. The event, which will be held at the New York Hilton at noon, will be preceded by a Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral; John Cardinal O’Connor will be the homilist at the 10:15 service.

 The Catholic League is the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization. It defends the right of Catholics–lay and clergy alike–to participate in American life without defamation or discrimination.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights deplores today’s ruling by the Massachusetts high court to allow homosexuals the right to march as a group in Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade; the Catholic League entered an amicus brief in this case. Dr. William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League, made the following comments:

“Today’s ruling allowing homosexuals the right to march as a group in Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade brings to a head the war that homosexual militants have been waging against Catholics and the Catholic Church. The Catholic League entered an amicus brief in this case because of its support for both religious freedom and freedom of association. It looks forward to engaging this issue in the Supreme Court.

“It is a patent lie for homosexual militants to say that homosexuals have traditionally been excluded from marching in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It is well-known that homosexuals have long marched in every St. Patrick’s Day Parade, from Boston to San Francisco. But when gays marched, they did so by marching with their parish or association, and did not try to make a public display of their lifestyle.

“It is also well-known that march participants have never been asked what they do in bed and with whom. What we have here is a blatant attempt on the part of homosexual activists to make a public issue out of private behavior. It is gays, not straights, who are obsessed with homosexuality.

“The reason why Irish Catholics don’t want a homosexual contingency to march as a group has everything to do with their religious beliefs and their First Amendment rights. Homosexuality, like adultery, incest and bestiality, is viewed by Catholics, as well as by millions of others, as morally wrong. That is why they object when attempts are made to hijack their festivities for ends they do not support.

“The most sensible course of action now is for the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, the sponsors of the parade, to cancel the march. Perhaps it is time for heterosexuals to make a point of their own and petition to march in the next Gay Pride Parade under the banner ‘Straight Is Great.'”

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization. It defends the right of Catholics–lay and clergy alike–to participate in American life without defamation or discrimination.

March 1, 1994

Hon. Oliver Koppel
Attorney General
State of New York
Albany, New York 12224

Dear Attorney General Koppel:

I am writing to register a complaint against the abuse of your office by Jim Williams, Assistant Attorney General for New York State. Please be advised that this is an open letter; many in the media have or will receive a copy of it.

Last weekend, February 26th and 27th, Fordham University Law School hosted a 23-panel symposium entitled “Lesbian and Gay Law 1994.” The person who arranged the event was Jim Williams. He not only organized the symposium, he did it during office hours while in the employ of your office. Here’s how I know.

Listed in the New York Law Journal of February 23rd was a short column entitled “Program to Review Gay, Lesbian Issues.” The column advertised the Fordham Law symposium, stating that the program was sponsored by the Lesbian and Gay Law Association of Greater New York (LeGaL), the law school’s Gay and Lesbian Law Association and the Fordham Urban Law Journal. Additional information, the piece said, may be obtained from Jim Williams, president of LeGaL, at 416-8 714. That number. Mr. KoppeL is the number for your office.

The content of my complaint should now be obvious. By what right–legal or moral–does Mr. Williams have in using the resources of New York State to organize his private agenda? Worse, by what right does Mr. Williams have to use his office time–funded by the taxpayers of New York State–to orchestrate a meeting that is explicitly designed to affect the status of legislation in New York State? I conveyed my objections to Mr. Williams but he seemed unimpressed. I hope you aren’t: This is more than an impropriety, it is a direct conflict of interest.

For the record, it should be known that Mr. Williams’ involvement in the symposium went beyond that of an organizer: he was an active participant in the proceedings. On February 27th Mr. Williams sat on two panels: “Litigating Lesbian and Gay Employment Issues Under City, State and Federal Law” and “Advocating for Rights in the Workplace.” Both of these areas of law involve very sensitive issues. It is an outrage that those who are sworn to enforce the law should so maneuver their public office to service partisan political objectives.

Mr. Williams has shown a callous disregard for law, ethics and the taxpayers of New York. The public interest, I hope you will agree, cannot be served by those who have such an obvious disregard for it.

I look forward to hearing from you about this matter.

Sincerely,

William A. Donohue, Ph.D.
President, Catholic League