Care2 Petition Calls for NJ Catholic Church to Restore Student LGBTQ Mural

Students from the Bergen County Arts & Science Charter School Had Mural Painted Over by Holy Trinity Church

HACKENSACK, NJ — A new Care2 petition is calling on the Archdiocese of Newark to allow Bergen County Arts & Science Charter School, which leases its building from Holy Trinity Church, to restore a LGBTQ mural that the church called offensive and painted over. The Care2 petition has been signed by over 21,000 people.

VIEW THE CARE2 PETITION HERE: www.care2.com/LGBTQMuralNJ

The Care2 petition was started after reports that students from the Bergen County Arts & Science Charter School — a public school that rents space from Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Hackensack — say they were forced to tone-down a mural with LGBTQ components.

According to NorthJersey.com, Holy Trinity Reverend Paul Prevosto said the mural was first brought to his attention by parishioners because of a depiction of male figures that he said looked “obscene.”

Now, New Jersey’s largest gay rights advocacy group, Garden State Equality, has come out against the church’s decision and is asking the Archdiocese of Newark to allow the school restore the mural, calling it “offensive, unconscionable, and flatly unconstitutional for this church acting as a for-profit landlord to restrict a public school’s curriculum or censor student speech within those walls.”

The group has, reportedly, also claimed that the church has restricted education at Bergen Arts and Science before, including by forcing a school psychologist to remove a poster supportive of LGBT students.

“Holy Trinity Church should be inclusive and support symbols of artistic expression by and for LGBTQ people,” said Care2’s Rebecca G. “Nothing is ‘obscene’ about equality and this student’s mural should be restored in its original form.”

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