Human Rights Campaign Responds To Pope Francis/Kim Davis "Meeting"

The Human Rights Campaign issued a statement regarding news reports that allege Pope Francis met privately last week with Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Ky., county clerk who continues to violate the law by refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

From the Human Rights Campaign:

“We hope that this is just a troubling mistake, but if these reports are true, this is a disappointing end to a historic trip,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “It would come as a shock to all those who were inspired by Pope Francis’s call for greater tolerance and inclusion if he were to lend support to a public employee who has become synonymous with discrimination against LGBT people. And, it would be most disappointing to the dozens of LGBT faithful who gathered to welcome Pope Francis to Washington, D.C., and whose request for a meeting was declined.”

HRC invited Pope Francis to meet with LGBT Catholics during his recent visit to Washington, DC. The Pope, who participated in a prayer service across the street from the organization’s headquarters last Wednesday, was asked to join more than 100 LGBT Catholics and staff who gathered to welcome him to the city. HRC also hung a banner on the side of its building asking Pope Francis to embrace LGBT Catholics and put a stop to Archdioceses and Bishops in the United States that have fired capable, faithful LGBT employees.