Deb Word: We don’t Need to put this kind of Trauma on a Child’s Soul.

About 14 families with gay or transgender members have registered to attend the four-day World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia just before the pope’s arrival. Deb Word, president of Fortunate Families, a support group for Catholic parents seeking full inclusion of their gay children in the church, said her group applied to have a table in the exhibit hall, but was rejected. She was also interviewed by a World Meeting organizer as a possible speaker for the only panel on homosexuality, but was ultimately not included.

“We wanted to go and share resources on how you can safeguard your child’s long-term health by using loving acceptance in your home. It doesn’t sound like a scary message, does it?” said Ms. Word, who lives in Memphis with her husband and has taken in 17 homeless young gay and transgender people over many years who were rejected by their families.

In Philadelphia, she will be wearing a small rainbow ribbon pin and carrying a bag of literature for Catholics she meets who express interest. If she could meet the pope, she said, she would tell him the story of her son, an altar server and a faithful Catholic who did not come out until he was 23.

She and her husband had known for years that he was probably gay, but he delayed telling them because he was so worried he was going to hell.

If she could say only one thing to the pope, Ms. Word said, it would be this: “We don’t need to put this kind of trauma on a child’s soul.”
-Deb Word, president of Fortunate Families,

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