Made for Love Podcast

Last month's Made for Love episode was about  marrying after the death of your first spouse. 

When Catholics marry, they promise to be together "as long as we both shall live." Death brings about the end of a marriage, and the other partner is free to marry again. Today we'll hear the stories of men and women who have married after losing their first spouse to death. The episode features Randy and Lucy Hines and Andy and Beth Huseman.

There was also a minisode, A Mother's Love, featuring Mary, a mom whose son announced one Sunday that he had left the Church and that he was gay and wanted to pursue a male partner.

Sexuality Policies for Dioceses/Schools

A number of bishops and dioceses have taken steps to solidify policies about sexuality/ gender in the diocese or schools.

All the Dioceses of Minnesota
The dioceses of Minnesota, gathered under the Minnesota Catholic Conference, have released  Guiding Principles for Sexuality Identity  in Catholic Education. These principles establish that students will be treated according to their true body/soul identity.

Springfield, IL
Bishop Paprocki released a pastoral guide regarding gender identity for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. He also made a video ( transcript) explaining the need for the policy. 
Action Alert

Tell Congress that the ERA hurts women and the unborn!
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was passed by Congress in 1972, with the stated purpose of enshrining equality between the sexes in our Constitution. However, it failed to be ratified by three-fourths of the states (38) within the 7-year time limit established by Congress. Now, abortion activists in Congress, among others, are trying to revive it by passing a resolution (H.J. Res. 79) to eliminate the deadline for ratification by the states. Tell your representatives to vote "no" on H.R. Res. 79
Legal/Policy Updates

U.S. Supreme Court - On February 24th, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of Catholic Social Services and foster families in Philadelphia against the city's policy that shuts down agencies if they do not place children with same-sex couples.

9th Circuit Court of Appeals - On February 10th, a divided 9th Circuit denied a rehearing en banc for Edmo v. Idaho Dept. of Corrections, in which the panel had ordered the state to provide "gender confirmation" surgery to a male inmate and then transfer him to a women's prison. Then on February 12th a 9th Circuit panel ruled against the parents and students in Parents for Privacy v. Barr, upholding an Oregon school district's pro-"transgender" restroom and locker room policy against their constitutional and statutory claims, opining that it is not discriminatory as long as both sexes are subjected to the policy's effects.

Maryland - On February 6th, the Maryland federal court denied Bethel Christian Academy's request for preliminary injunction against the state's removing it from the school voucher program based on the school's beliefs on marriage.

Texas and California - On February 10th, Texas sued California to challenge the latter's government travel ban against it and ten other states with policies it deems to be "anti-LGBT."

Utah - The Utah state senate voted to decriminalize polygamy on February 18th, on the grounds it would help victims of abuse come forward.

Virginia - On February 20th, the Virginia legislature passed a bill to institute a statewide model policy for school boards in favor of "transgender" students' demands. The state continues to advance other bills to comprehensively prohibit any "discrimination" based on "sexual orientation" and "gender identity," ban "conversion therapy" for minors, shut-down adoption and foster care providers who do not work with same-sex couples, make it easier to switch or choose "non-binary" genders on state identification and records, and more.

Wisconsin  - On February 18th, a lawsuit was filed challenging the Madison, Wisconsin, school district's policy that enables students to socially "gender transition" in school while keeping parents uninformed.
www.marriageuniqueforareason.org