Baim, Murray reissue call for Cardinal George to resign
Mon. January 2, 2012 9:39 AM by GoPride.com News Staff
full page ad that appeared in sunday's chicago tribune
photo credit // truth wins out
Tracy Baim: “The Catholic church should not be allowed, tax free, to lobby against my rights.”
Chicago, IL -
Cardinal Francis George, the head of the Catholic Conference of Illinois and the Archbishop of Chicago, remains under increased pressure to resign as he has yet to apologize for his comments likening gay activists with the KKK.
Truth Wins Out (TWO), a non-profit advocacy group, stepped up its campaign against George with a full-page ad in Sunday's Chicago Tribune headlined, "Hey, Cardinal Francis George, Gay is not like the KKK."
The ad slams the Cardinal for his comments first made on Dec. 21 during a pre-recorded interview with Fox Chicago Sunday and televised on Christmas morning.
"It seems the sin of pride is keeping George from saying he is sorry," TWO executive director Wayne Besen said in a released statement. "At this point, the only road to redemption is his resignation."
George further stocked the controversy last week when he again asserted his KKK analogy in a statement posted Dec. 27 on the Archdiocese of Chicago website. The Cardinal said organizers of Chicago's gay pride parade "invited" those analogies.
In response to the statement, The Civil Rights Agenda not only renewed its call for Cardinal George to issue an apology, but the gay rights group called for him to resign.
An editorial published Dec. 30 in the Tribune called the Cardinal's analogy "bizarre."
Appearing on Fox Chicago Sunday this week, Joe Murray, executive director of the Rainbow Sash Movement (RSM) and Windy City Times publisher and executive editor Tracy Baim reissued calls for George to apologize and to step down.
"I do believe that the comments were way out of line, but it's also a continuation of other comments he's made over the years against gay rights issues," said Baim. "This is the end of a long line of anti-gay comments."
Baim, who first called for George to resign in an editorial posted on Dec. 23, said if religious leaders lobby government officials on political issues, including gay rights, their churches should pay taxes.
"The Catholic church should not be allowed, tax free, to lobby against my rights," said Baim. "If they want to pay taxes just as secular people do, that's awesome."
Cardinal George and the Archdiocese of Chicago have most-recently clashed with the LGBT community over the passage and implementation of civil unions in the state.
Meanwhile an online petition calling for George to resign has garnered over 5,000 signatures since it was launched last week by TWO.
Truth Wins Out (TWO), a non-profit advocacy group, stepped up its campaign against George with a full-page ad in Sunday's Chicago Tribune headlined, "Hey, Cardinal Francis George, Gay is not like the KKK."
The ad slams the Cardinal for his comments first made on Dec. 21 during a pre-recorded interview with Fox Chicago Sunday and televised on Christmas morning.
"It seems the sin of pride is keeping George from saying he is sorry," TWO executive director Wayne Besen said in a released statement. "At this point, the only road to redemption is his resignation."
George further stocked the controversy last week when he again asserted his KKK analogy in a statement posted Dec. 27 on the Archdiocese of Chicago website. The Cardinal said organizers of Chicago's gay pride parade "invited" those analogies.
In response to the statement, The Civil Rights Agenda not only renewed its call for Cardinal George to issue an apology, but the gay rights group called for him to resign.
An editorial published Dec. 30 in the Tribune called the Cardinal's analogy "bizarre."
Appearing on Fox Chicago Sunday this week, Joe Murray, executive director of the Rainbow Sash Movement (RSM) and Windy City Times publisher and executive editor Tracy Baim reissued calls for George to apologize and to step down.
"I do believe that the comments were way out of line, but it's also a continuation of other comments he's made over the years against gay rights issues," said Baim. "This is the end of a long line of anti-gay comments."
Baim, who first called for George to resign in an editorial posted on Dec. 23, said if religious leaders lobby government officials on political issues, including gay rights, their churches should pay taxes.
"The Catholic church should not be allowed, tax free, to lobby against my rights," said Baim. "If they want to pay taxes just as secular people do, that's awesome."
Cardinal George and the Archdiocese of Chicago have most-recently clashed with the LGBT community over the passage and implementation of civil unions in the state.
Meanwhile an online petition calling for George to resign has garnered over 5,000 signatures since it was launched last week by TWO.