Click here to join this online CLGS Lavender Lunch via Zoom!

We invite you to join us for this CLGS Lavender Lunch, which will feature a distinguished panel of leaders from various LGBTQ+ ministry organizations, including Outreach, New Ways Ministry, Dignity USA, and the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative LGBT Initiative.

Panelists will offer reflections on their respective ministries, highlighting the unique challenges they have encountered as well as the opportunities that lie ahead for advancing LGBTQ+ ministry within the Catholic context.

Following the panel presentations, attendees will participate in a collective discussion facilitated by Dr. Ish Ruíz, Coordinator of the CLGS Catholic Roundtable. This discussion will focus on the practical dimensions of Catholic LGBTQ+ ministry in today’s evolving ecclesial and political landscape.

Our Presenters

Professor Ish Ruíz is Coordinator of the CLGS Catholic Roundtable and Assistant Professor of Latinx and Queer Decolonial Theology at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. Dr. Ruíz holds a PhD in Theology and Ethics from the Graduate Theological Union.

A native from Puerto Rico and a queer Catholic theologian, his research interests explore the intersection between queer theology, Latinx theology, ecclesiology, sexual ethics, liberation, human rights, and Catholic education.

He is the author of LGBTQ+ Educators in Catholic Schools: Synodality, Inclusivity, and Justice (Rowman and Littlefield), the editor of Cornerstones: Sacred Stories of LGBTQ+ Employees in Catholic Institutions, and the author of numerous academic articles.

Additional Speakers To Be Announced

A CLGS Fall 2025 Lavender Lunch