Germany: 125 queer Catholic Church employees demand respect

BERLIN (AP) — More than 120 employees of the Catholic Church in Germany have publicly outed themselves as queer, saying they want to “live openly without fear” in the church. They are urging the church to allow the blessing of same-sex couples and want it to change its labor rules. The group –which included priests, religion teachers and administrative employees — on Monday identified themselves as backers of the initiative titled “#OutInChurch — For a church without fear.” The initiative is calling for all LGBTIQ who work for the church to join up, and appealing to bishops to give its manifesto public support. It assails the church’s “discrimination” against same-sex relationships.