YOUR FAVORITE LOGO TV SHOWS ARE ON PARAMOUNT+

The Pope Met With An LGBT Activist For The First Time In History

Simón Cazal of Paraguay became the first LGBT activist to meet with the Pope when he was among the 1,600 social leaders who met with Francis in Asunción on Saturday.

Cazal, leader of the LGBT group SomosGay,said the Pope didn't address LGBT rights directly, but told him, “there are no people of first, of second or third class... dignity is for everyone.”

Pope Francis has been all over the map with when it comes to the LGBT community—first saying gays and lesbians had "gifts" to offer Catholics, then pulling a 360 and declaring same-sex relationships were a "threat" to the traditional family.

Francis recently rejected the French ambassador to the Vatican because he's openly gay and married to his partner.

Related: President of Paraguay Would Shoot His Balls Off Rather Than Have A Gay Son

Saturday marks the first time on record that a sitting Pope has met with a gay activist. Back in March, Francis ate with LGBT inmates at a prison in Italy. And ,in January, he reportedly met with a transgender man from Spain.

Cazal, who married partner Sergio López in Argentina in 2012, suffered as a young man coming out in the homophobic South American country.

“[My parents] said that this country didn’t have space for people like me," he told The Guardian. "And they threw me out in the street.”

Related: Pope Francis Holds Private Meeting With Transgender Man

Marriage equality is not legal in Paraguay and the country’s LGBT community still experience regular discrimination and violence. In 2013, President Horacio Cartes said he'd rather "have my balls shot off" than have a gay son.

Since founding SOMOSGAY, Cazal's been attacked twice—once by police.

And as an atheist, he has no love for the Church.

“But in Paraguay, 92% of people are Catholic and love the Pope," he says. "If we reject the invitation, we’re rejecting democracy.”

Even if the Church doesn't change its doctrine, though, Cazal believes the meeting was a success.

“We’re going to carry on, but with a new weapon," he says. "We have a new banner that we didn’t have before: we have the banner of the Pope. And we’re going to use it for as a long as we can, to talk with people who see our existence as against their faith."

h/t: Washington Blade

Latest News