Pope Francis, already Time magazine’s “Person of the Year,” has now cinched the same title from another notable publication: The gay rights magazine, The Advocate.
The December issue of the magazine showcases the pope with “NO H8” Photoshopped on his check. And next to the photo is the pope’s statement, given to reporters in July: “If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?”
Nonetheless, Pope Francis has never campaigned for same-sex marriage and, in fact, fought against the passage of a same-sex union law while archbishop of Buenos Aires, Breitbart.com reported.
Still, The Advocate touted its choice of the pontiff for the high honor with this statement, reported by Breitbart: “Pope Francis is leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics all over the world. There are three times as many Catholics in the world than there are citizens in the United States. Like it or not, what he says makes a difference.”
The magazine’s editors went on: “Sure, we all know Catholics who fudge on the religion’s rules about morality. There’s a lot of disagreement, about the role of women, about contraception, and more. But none of that should lead us to underestimate any pope’s capacity for persuading hearts and minds in opening to LBGT people.”
The Advocate selected the pope over even Edie Windsor of U.S. v. Windsor fame — the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case about the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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