Anne Hathaway's break with the Vatican was just one public tip of an iceberg
"THE WHOLE FAMILY converted to Episcopalianism after my elder brother came out. Why should I support an organisation that has a limited view of my beloved brother?" Anne Hathaway asked of the Catholic Church in a March interview with British GQ magazine.
Last year the actress - best known for her role in "The Princess Diaries" and also seen in "Brokeback Mountain" - questioned Barack Obama's judgement when he chose a man who compares gay marriage to paedophilia and incest to deliver the invocation at his inauguration.
Asked what she expected of the president-elect, she said, "I expect him to explain the choice of Rick Warren. I don't get it. All my friends and I were trying to figure it out, but we just can't."
It's noteworthy that, in response to the anger his selection caused in the LGBT community, Obama had a gay Episcopalian bishop, V Gene Robinson, deliver a pre-inaugural invocation.
But Hathaway's perspective had a context that was closer to home: Catholicism takes a dim view of the sexual orientation of Ann's brother Michael. The more tolerant stance of Episcopalianism proved preferable to her clan.
Roman Catholicism, the largest Christian faith, has long issued documents that paint homosexuality in a negative light. The Vatican's "Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics" insists that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and can in no case be approved of".
The Catholic catechism states that homosexual acts "are contrary to the natural law". "Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons" mentions that LGBT's adopting children is "gravely immoral".
Most importantly, Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly shown his disdain for LGBTs.
Despite the official policy, however, many Catholics support LGBTs because they have gay friends and family members.
Dignity USA is a Catholic LGBT organisation that's trying to change the church's official position. It works at every possible level - theologically, socially and individually - to gain equality for gay Catholics.
Unfortunately, tolerance is hard to come by at the practical level, and many LGBT Catholics have left the Church to seek more gay-friendly pastures.
The Episcopal Church, the Anglican offshoot born during the American Revolution against British rule, has begun to come to grips with modernity.
The Acts of the 65th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 1976 advised its dioceses to undertake a serious study of human sexuality, including homosexuality. The church decided that homosexuals are "children of God" and "entitled to equal protection of the laws with all other citizens".
Another milestone came in 2003 when the openly gay minister Gene Robinson was elected bishop of New Hampshire.
Last year's General Convention took another leap, giving bishops the right to decide for themselves whether to bless same-sex unions.
More importantly, the convention left conservative members fuming by affirming the ordination of gays and lesbians.
Such theological differences won't sway everyone from their faith, but the Hathaway family's conversion showed that, sometimes, love for a gay member of a family trumps devotion to a given church.
And this is the true meaning of "family values", I suppose.
