Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

DeGoia’s Choice Ignores Health Risks

TO THE EDITOR:

I trust that University President John J. DeGioia is aware that the Catholic Church holds that “sexual activity between persons of the same sex, is not a normal condition, the acts being against nature and are objectively wrong,” as is written in the Catholic Encyclopedia. I was therefore astonished to learn he recently succumbed to vocal homosexual activists and four faculty members and promised that Georgetown University will consider funding a center for homosexual students. DeGioia’s action is not only a bold and highly public rejection of Catholic moral teachings, but positions the university as a financial supporter of a behavior that can be unhealthy.

Homosexuality is a dangerous lifestyle accounting for about half the HIV/AIDS deaths in the United States. If moral teachings no longer hold sway at my alma mater, maybe medical research will dissuade the university’s leadership from creating a homosexual haven on Georgetown’s campus.

Research published by Oxford University and in the International Journal of Epidemiology found that in the Canadian town where the study was conducted “life expectancy at age 20 years for gay and bisexual men is 8 to 20 years less than for all men.”

Furthermore, the Canadian Medical Association Journal has stated that the HIV/AIDS epidemic has reduced life expectancy by up to 20 years for young gay and bisexual men in Vancouver.

So why would the president of America’s oldest Catholic University thumb his nose at Catholic teaching while potentially placing the health of some Georgetown students in jeopardy? This inquiring alumnus would like to know.

Tom Harvey (C ’61)

Nov. 11, 2007

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