http://www.advocate.com/year-review/2013/12/16/advocates-person-year-pope-francisAuthor: Lucas Grindley Source: The Advocate
When deciding who was the single most influential person of 2013 on the lives of LGBT people, there are obvious choices. At least, they seem so at first. [. . . ] Edie Windsor is a hero, one well worth recording in history books that retell the story of DOMA's demise. But she is not the Person of the Year. She couldn't possibly be, not for The Advocate, where we celebrate the work of so many who contributed to that landmark Supreme Court victory.
Pope Francis's stark change in rhetoric from his two predecessors — both who were at one time or another among The Advocate's annual Phobie Awards — makes what he's done in 2013 all the more daring. First there's Pope John Paul II, who gay rights activists protested during a highly publicized visit to the United States in 1987 because of what had become known as the "Rat Letter" — an unprecedented damning of homosexuality as "intrinsically evil." It was written by one of his cardinals, Joseph Ratzinger, who went on to become Pope Benedict XVI. [. . . ] Pope Francis is still not pro-gay by today's standard.
One could imagine how acceptance of LGBT people might fit into the pope's case for loving every human being and valuing the contribution made by each to society. With less than a year as pope, Francis still must show whether his aspiration ends at not being our enemy. Will he be an agent for fighting our discrimination worldwide?
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While I do like Pope Francis and hope he'll make things a bit more inclusive in the Catholic church, I don't really think he's done enough for LGBT people to be person-of-the-year for an LGBT-catered magazine. While there were tons of lawyers, legal-groups, etc. I don't see why Edie Windsor couldn't have gotten their award; she might not have done everything by herself but she was certainly the figurehead of the recent marriage equality movement in the USA.
