The University of Notre Dame in the United States has launched a campaign highlighting how it practises inclusion for gay athletes.
A video to kick-off the campaign is titled “At Notre Dame, if you can play, you can play”.
About 50 other US universities have made similar videos.
On the video, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the school values its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students, as it does all its students.
Because of this “the university is committed to fostering an environment of welcome and mutual respect that is grounded in its Catholic mission”, he said.
The video features athletes from all 26 men’s and women’s teams on campus.
Included are tennis player Matt Dooley and rower Olivia Kacsits, both of whom have publicly identified as gay.
Both pushed for the video and campaign.
“Our goal was to increase visibility of the supportive atmosphere created by the Notre Dame student community,” Ms Kacsits said.
“Unfortunately, many Notre Dame observers have a different perception of the on-campus atmosphere,” she added.
“Something I believe to be central to Notre Dame’s philosophy is that we believe in fostering and practicing unconditional, Christ-like love,” she said.
Notre Dame recognised an official gay-straight alliance, PrismND, in 2013, after refusing to approve one for many years.
The latest Notre Dame campaign was done in conjunction with You Can Play, an organisation dedicated to promoting respect for athletes “without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity”.
One of You Can Play’s co-founders is Patrick Burke, who graduated from Notre Dame in 2006.
“We can’t ignore the fact this is the nation’s pre-eminent Catholic university, which has a mixed history of LGBT inclusion, stepping up and officially endorsing treating their LGBT athletes with dignity and respect,” Mr Burke said.
“It’s a huge, huge statement on behalf of the Catholic community and the school itself to acknowledge that what we do is directly in line with Catholic teaching.”
The video makes no references to gay marriage or to the university’s adherence to the Vatican position that all homosexuals should be chaste.
“I don’t hear anything (in the video) outside the teachings of the Church,” said Sean McBride, spokesman for the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese.
Sources
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