Activists in their teens, twenties and thirties have left no doubt that young Catholics are indeed having sex, want access to contraception, are HIV positive, and are gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual. These young people are advocating for their rights, and the bishops in their home countries are giving them hell for it.
A young man from Mexico told me about his local priest, a man who worked with a peer sex ed program to provide information about correct condom use and to distribute contraception to young LGBT and HIV-positive people in his community. When the local bishop caught wind, this priest was transferred to another parish.
A young French activist from AIDES told me that the French bishops have launched a new campaign aimed specifically at Catholic youth. Their basic message: Don't have sex, and don't use condoms.
These young Catholics are fighting back by working in their communities for sexual and reproductive access, education, and justice; they're also taking CFC, Condoms4Life and yCFC's messages home to other young Catholics who haven't discovered us. As the youth pavilion's slogan proclaims, I can't wait to see what they can do once they've got the chance to "Now make it happen."
Specific shouts-out of the day go to:
a) YPeer, for its "find a person in red" scavenger hunt, which led to me being brought to the organization's vibrant booth in my very bright, CFC-red dress.
b) ASTRA, which hosted a panel discussion today. Kyle attended, and our own Anka was a panelist.
a) YPeer, for its "find a person in red" scavenger hunt, which led to me being brought to the organization's vibrant booth in my very bright, CFC-red dress.
b) ASTRA, which hosted a panel discussion today. Kyle attended, and our own Anka was a panelist.
c) Women ARISE (our orange neighbors, with a display of vagina puppets!), for letting me snag one of their very cool "Women's Rights Here, Rights Now" T-shirts.
- Meghan
YPeer does rock! Nice to meet you guys! (Photo via facebook)
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