CHAMPAIGN, Ill. 鈥� Harrison Price remembers when he first started feeling unwelcome in the Catholic church. It was 2015 when the Supreme Court was considering , the case that guaranteed the right marriage for LGBTQ+ couples.
鈥淚n the bulletin, there was a big note that had an image, like, you know, bathroom-sign-type image of a man and a woman holding hands, and it was like, 鈥楽ame-sex marriage is not God鈥檚 way. One man, one woman is right,'鈥� Price said. 鈥淭hat was the first time I felt that dread.鈥�
Though Price hadn鈥檛 fully come to understand his gender identity as a transgender man at that point in his adolescence, he knew he wasn鈥檛 straight.
鈥淪eeing that sort of hateful message, at least for me, really reinforced the idea that not only are there people in general who are not safe here, but I鈥檓 not safe here,鈥� he said.
After distancing himself from his Catholic upbringing in Missouri and even rejecting religion for a while, Price鈥檚 move to Champaign-Urbana in 2021 led him to explore a different denomination, the .
鈥淚 think the social messages and the general attitudes of a lot of Catholic communities are very harmful to me and to a lot of people who I care about."Harrison Price
Rev. Leah Robberts-Mosser, who leads CUCC, said she鈥檚 had many congregants with stories like Price鈥檚.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e said, 鈥業 didn鈥檛 think that this was possible,'鈥� she said. 鈥溾�業 didn鈥檛 think it was possible for me to be who I am, who God created me to be, who I have always known myself to be, and for me to be part of a community of faith.鈥欌��
Since 1985, the United Church of Christ as a denomination has openly accepted the LGBTQ+ community, and CUCC continues to advocate for social justice causes like trans rights. Robberts-Mosser even conducts blessings for people choosing new names to align with their gender identities.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so powerful to get to preside at that kind of ritual,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o be able to invoke the same sort of words that are in the baptism liturgy, to be able to ask, 鈥楤y what name shall we call you?'鈥�
Robberts-Mosser also runs workshops she calls 鈥榖iblical self-defense,鈥� in which she applies historical context to reframe biblical passages commonly used against the LGBTQ+ community, aiming to show how some stories can actually be interpreted as affirming for queer people.
鈥淯nless you鈥檙e fluent in ancient Hebrew, which I am not, are you? No. We are the passive recipients of somebody else鈥檚 choice in translation,鈥� Robberts-Mosser said. 鈥淎nd so anytime we sit down with the Bible, we have to take it seriously, but not literally.鈥�
Though Price is an active member of CUCC, he feels conflicted, because he thinks of himself as a Catholic, but feels unwelcome in that community.
鈥淚 think the social messages and the general attitudes of a lot of Catholic communities are very harmful to me and to a lot of people who I care about,鈥� he said.
But one church is attempting to change things without waiting for the Vatican. Rev. Eileen Mathy leads the in Urbana. She understands the skepticism that Price and many others in the LGBTQ+ community have about the Catholic church.
鈥淚 mean, it feels like a bit of a trap,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ecause the church will say, 鈥榃e love you just the way you are. And once we get you here, we hope you鈥檒l change.'鈥�
Formed in 2021, Beloved advertises itself as being open to all, which includes having an open communion table 鈥� a trait not shared by traditional Catholic parishes.
These factors, combined with Mathy being a woman priest, mean the church is not a part of the local archdiocese, the Archdiocese of Peoria.
鈥淲e consider ourselves to exist sort of on the margins of the inside of the church,鈥� Mathy said. 鈥淪o we don鈥檛 forego our identity as Roman Catholics, but we do believe that we are called to stand against injustice within the church.鈥�
, where they鈥檙e discussing major issues affecting the whole denomination. Key topics on the table include the acceptance of LGBTQ+ Catholics and the possibility of women being ordained as clergy.
Though the process will continue until 2024, only vaguely mentions 鈥渋dentity and sexuality鈥� among a list of other unresolved issues.
Mathy says the lack of movement on LGBTQ+ rights in the synod isn鈥檛 the result her congregation hoped for when they participated in the discussions this year, but she hopes it spurs other Catholics to do something about it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very disappointing,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut it just affirms for me that the way forward is for Catholics to gain a sense of agency and make their own communities happen.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 like cutting off our arms and legs,鈥� Mathy added. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 welcome and appreciate and celebrate and really incorporate these folks into our community, we鈥檙e really missing out.鈥�
While the congregation of Beloved is open to the trans community, the National Conference of Bishops in the United States does not accept the idea of gender transitions.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 welcome and appreciate and celebrate and really incorporate these folks into our community, we鈥檙e really missing out.鈥�Rev. Eileen Mathy, of Beloved Inclusive Catholic Community
But on Nov. 8, 鈥� as long as doing so didn鈥檛 cause 鈥渟candal or confusion.鈥�
Mathy noted that while she believes the statement from the Vatican is far from perfect, and leaves many questions unanswered 鈥� such as how trans kids in parochial schools will be treated 鈥� it still marks some progress.
Price doesn鈥檛 see it that way.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not up for you to decide if you鈥檙e causing a scandal or not,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 up for people who are historically against you and will do everything to find a loophole, essentially, to exclude you.鈥�
Price pointed out that for most trans-identifying Catholics, who were likely baptized as babies, the Vatican鈥檚 proclamation doesn鈥檛 really change anything. 鈥淭o hear people just praise this sort of thing as progressive, it is like a slap in the face,鈥� he said.
However, the fact that acceptance of queer and trans people was even being discussed is a good sign in his view.
鈥淚 really do hope that even the call, or the intention to do this is a big wake-up for a lot of people in power,鈥� Price said.
The Archdiocese of Peoria did not respond to requests for comment.
