Archbishop Calls Out Regis University For Urging Staff To Support Drag

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DENVER (AP) - The Catholic archbishop of Denver called out Regis University's provost for encouraging faculty to attend a student drag show.

Archbishop Samuel Aquila at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver in July 2012. (credit: CBS)

The Denver Post reports Provost Janet Houser of the Jesuit-Catholic university urged teachers to attend the show as a way of supporting LGBTQ students. Houser also suggested they avoid language that reinforces the gender binary -- including saying "ladies and gentlemen."

Regis University (credit: CBS)

Houser also warned teachers not to take attendance using the official roster, since this might involve accidentally using "a student's 'dead name' -- a legal name that they no longer go by -- which can be very upsetting for transgender students to hear."

Archbishop Samuel Aquila says Regis leaders never discussed those initiatives with him, and that "this guidance is not in conformity with the Catholic faith, despite the attempts made to justify it as rooted in Jesuit values."