The New York Times - USA (2020-06-25)

(Antfer) #1

A14 THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2020


N

ROYAL OAK, Mich. — The first wed-
ding ceremony for Terry Gonda and
Kirsti Reeve was a joyful occasion at-
tended by 180 friends and family, com-
plete with white wedding dresses and
veils, handmade origami table decora-
tions and songs from their church choir.
That wedding in Michigan was not le-
gal in 2003, but rather a symbolic testa-
ment to the love they had nurtured over a
9-year, long-distance relationship.
Their second marriage, in 2011, hap-
pened on a whim as they visited friends
in Washington, D.C., where same-sex
marriage was legal.
And it is their dream that the third time
around will happen in the Catholic
Church they have called home for nearly
20 years.
As unrealistic as that possibility al-
ready was, it became even more remote
after Ms. Gonda, 59, was notified that she
was going to be fired this week from her
part-time job as a music director at the
St. John Fisher Chapel, a church in Au-
burn Hills, Mich.
Msgr. Michael LeFevre, the pastor of
St. John Fisher who has supported the
couple since he learned of their marriage
five years ago, delivered the news in an
email, saying the archdiocese had re-
cently learned about it, too.
“When asked, I confirmed that you
and Kirsti had informed me of your mari-
tal status some five years ago,” he wrote
in the email, which Ms. Gonda shared
with The Times. “Now, the archdiocese is
choosing to activate its morality clause
to terminate your employment.”
On Wednesday afternoon, in a meeting
with archdiocese officials, Ms. Gonda
was officially terminated.
Monsignor LeFevre’s email came
June 12, just three days before the Su-
preme Court ruled that employers could
not fire workers based on their sexual
orientation or gender identity.
In his opinion, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch
recognized the existence of protections
for religious institutions in employment,
including the First Amendment, the Reli-
gious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993
and a 2012 Supreme Court ruling that
recognized a “ministerial exception” in
employment discrimination laws.
But there are also cases before the Su-
preme Court regarding religious exemp-
tions to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that
could address protections for religious
organizations more directly.
“How these doctrines protecting reli-
gious liberty interact with Title VII are
questions for future cases too,” he wrote.
The court heard oral arguments last
month in Our Lady of Guadalupe School
vs Morrissey-Berru, for example, a case
about whether teachers at private, reli-
gious schools are subject to the excep-
tion in the Civil Rights Act.
Ned McGrath, a spokesman for the
Archdiocese of Detroit, said, “As a long-
standing practice, out of respect for the
privacy of those involved, the Detroit
archdiocese does not comment on per-
sonnel matters.”
But the archbishop, Allen Vigneron, of-
fered a clear viewpoint in 2017 pastoral
note, calling for prayer for “those with
same-sex attraction who do not see the
truth and goodness of Christ’s call to
them, that they might undergo repen-
tance and conversion to receive healing
and peace.”
Ms. Gonda said that she thought the
Supreme Court ruling might give the
archdiocese pause before going through
with firing her, but she did not expect it
because of ministerial exemptions to
workplace civil rights protections.


What she finds galling is that instead
of just not renewing her contract when it
expired on June 30, the church is choos-
ing to fire her instead.
“They’re trying to send a message.
This is a major shot across the bow,” she
said.
“They’re trying to sweep the gays out
of the church,” added Ms. Reeve, 51.
“Would they rather we live in sin?”
The Catholic community in Detroit has
a strong traditionalist faction, including
the controversial publication Church
Militant, which regularly includes homo-
phobic content. And as the vice president
of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops,
Archbishop Vigneron is next in line to
take over the organization, which took a
hard stance against the Supreme Court’s
ruling.
The firing of Ms. Gonda came after
church leaders sent a letter to priests in
metro Detroit, forbidding them to hold
masses for Dignity Detroit and Fortu-
nate Families, support groups for parish-
ioners who are part of the L.G.B.T.Q.
community and their families.
“It is essential that the church not

seem to condone Dignity Detroit’s com-
peting vision for growth in holiness,”
Bishop Gerard Battersby wrote to
parishes in March.
The couple has been inundated with
cards and calls of support. Some long-
time members of the parish, as well as
some members of the choir, are contem-
plating a switch to a different, more wel-
coming church.
Under the last two pastors at their
parish, the church has gained a reputa-
tion as a progressive community com-
mitted to social justice. And that has
been a tension point with the more con-
servative leadership in the archdiocese.
“It’s just an unbelievable thing that’s
happening. Terry is one of the nicest peo-
ple you’d ever want to know and Kirsti is
just delightful,” said Alyce Gilroy, of Au-
burn Hills, who has been a member of St.
John Fisher for 40 years. “I am currently
looking to find a new church that aligns
with my values. At age 97, that is pretty
sad.”
Michael and Sandra Ginger, of Roches-
ter Hills, met Ms. Gonda and Ms. Reeve
at church more than 15 years ago and

asked them to perform the music at their
wedding in 2009 and become godparents
to their 4-year-old son.
“Whatever her lifestyle is, it has no
real bearing on how she does her job,”
Ms. Ginger said. “She has done it profes-
sionally for decades and she should not
be fired for what she does in her personal
life.”
For Ms. Gonda, the music director’s
job is not about the money: It pays about
$21,000 a year, split among four people,
and is a small supplement to her full-time
job as an engineer at the U.S. Army’s
Tank Automotive and Armament Com-
mand facility in Warren, Mich. It is about
her faith and how she’s been able to ex-
press her spirituality since she joined the
parish as a student at Oakland Univer-
sity, which is across the street from the
church. She spent 24 years as the assist-
ant music director at St. John Fisher and
the last six years as music director.
Her love of music helped her as she
was figuring out her sexual orientation
as a member of St. Valentine Church in
Redford, Mich., she recalled.
“Our church became a regional hub for

young adults because we started doing
musicals. We did Jesus Christ Superstar
and then we did Godspell,” Ms. Gonda
said. “The camaraderie and the spiritu-
ality had a profound impact on me. It was
a powerful, powerful time.”
Music also led her to Ms. Reeve in


  1. Even though internet access was
    limited at the time, they connected on-
    line through an Indigo Girls fan group.
    Ms. Reeve, who was involved with an
    evangelical church and lived in London,
    had a bootleg copy of one of the duo’s re-
    cordings. Ms. Gonda, who was planning
    a trip to England with her mother, ar-
    ranged to meet Ms. Reeve to get a copy of
    the tape.
    The encounter was electric for both.
    When Ms. Gonda played Ms. Reeve a
    song with religious undertones, the
    match was sealed.
    “The phone calls cost $8,000 that first
    year,” Ms. Gonda said.
    After nine years of writing, calling and
    periodic visits, Ms. Reeve, a licensed
    counselor, moved to Michigan in 2003,
    and a month later, they were married.
    “I knew it was going to be OK when
    Terry introduced me to Father Brzezin-
    ski and he hugged me and said, ‘welcome
    home,’ ” Ms. Reeve said of her first meet-
    ing with the pastor of St. John Fisher at
    the time, Father Jerry Brzezinski.
    In an interview, Father Brzezinski,
    who is retired but remains a member of
    the parish, said Ms. Gonda’s marriage
    was never an issue while he was pastor
    at St. John Fisher.
    “There was never a time that we were
    proclaiming it publicly, nor we were we
    trying to hide it,” he said. “It’s unfortu-
    nate that the church hasn’t come to a
    fuller understanding of human sexuality
    and what’s going on in our lives in terms
    of the person, their faith and goodness
    and basically seeing each person in the
    image and likeness of God. We’ve never
    seen anything except that likeness of
    God in Terry.”
    Although Ms. Gonda and Ms. Reeve no
    longer feel welcome at the church and
    have been approached by other parishes
    ready to accept them, they said they
    want to figure out a way to stay with their
    pastoral family and change people’s
    hearts. Neither lawmakers nor the
    courts should decide the fate of
    L.G.B.T.Q. people in the Catholic Church,
    they said.
    “I’m uncomfortable with having laws
    determine these decisions. I think the
    church needs to do this,” Ms. Gonda said,
    adding she’s not interested in pursuing a
    lawsuit against the church, but hasn’t
    shut the door on that option.
    For Ms. Gonda, her life has been a se-
    ries of seeming contradictions and she is
    ready to adapt once again.
    “I’m a Catholic and a lesbian, an engi-
    neer and an artist, and a pacifist who
    works for the Army,” Ms. Gonda said. “I
    live in the middle of a paradox, so I’ve al-
    ways got one foot out the door, period.”
    The parish also is going through a
    transition, with Monsignor LeFevre be-
    ing assigned to a new parish and a new
    pastor starting in July.
    Ms. Gonda said she would direct the
    choir this Saturday, as a volunteer, start-
    ing with the song “All Are Welcome.” She
    hopes to be in the front pew to welcome
    the new pastor at an evening mass on the
    Fourth of July.
    “The guiding question for me right
    now is how can we together as baptized
    Catholics, being embraced by the arms of
    the joy of the gospel, build bridges that
    create a healthy church,” she said. “How
    can we do that together? Because there
    has to be a better way.”


United in Music, Faith and Messaging, Even After a Firing


Director Sees Dismissal as Archdiocese’s ‘Shot Across the Bow’


By KATHLEEN GRAY

Terry Gonda, top right, and Kirsti Reeve were
married in 2011. St. John Fisher Chapel in Au-
burn Hills, Mich., where Ms. Gonda worked as
music director, knew about her marriage for
years but fired her this month at the request of
more traditional archdiocese officials.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ELAINE CROMIE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

New York City has taken street space
away from cars for dozens of pedestrian
plazas and for hundreds of miles of bike
lanes that make up the largest urban
bike network in the nation.
It has significantly expanded those ef-
forts during the coronavirus pandemic,
adding more than 40 miles of open
streets for pedestrians and cyclists,
some of which may become permanent.
Now, a new proposal calls for the city
to build the first new bridge to Manhat-
tan in decades — one just for cyclists and
pedestrians.
The car-free bridge would connect
Midtown Manhattan to Long Island City
in Queens, near the site that Amazon had
planned to build a headquarters before
pulling out under intense community op-
position.
The bridge would also link to Roose-
velt Island, where Cornell Tech is nurtur-
ing a new generation of tech en-
trepreneurs.
Called the Queens Ribbon, the $
million bridge would be narrower than
one designed for cars and would resem-
ble a relatively thin line across the East
River, according to the proposal, which
was developed by a group of transporta-
tion engineers led by Samuel I.
Schwartz, a former city traffic commis-
sioner.
London, Paris, Singapore and other
cities have built car-free bridges as part
of a global movement to make more
room for people in urban streetscapes. In
New York, several major bridges carry
only pedestrians and cyclists, including
the High Bridge connecting Washington
Heights in Manhattan and Highbridge in
the Bronx.


The Queens Ribbon would serve the
growing bike and foot traffic in Manhat-
tan’s central business district. As New
York City has begun reopening after a
three-month shutdown, city officials
have warned that the streets could be
jammed by cars, and have urged com-
muters to take mass transit or alterna-
tives, such as bikes.
City officials have stepped up efforts to
make cycling safer after a spate of
deadly crashes last year. Twenty-eight
cyclists were killed in 2019, the highest
number in two decades. This year, there
have been eight cyclist deaths, com-
pared with 12 during the same period a
year ago.
Cycling has surged in recent months
as people have traded in the potential
health perils of subway and bus rides for
those of bike lanes. Citi Bike, the city’s
bike-share program, averaged 63,
daily rides for June 15-17, up 45 percent
from June 1-3, according to Citi Bike data.
Bike rides over four East River cross-
ings — the Ed Koch Queensboro, the
Brooklyn, the Manhattan and the
Williamsburg Bridges — that are popu-
lar bike routes for commuters increased
to an average of 21,033 trips per weekday
in 2018 from 12,206 in 2008, according to
city data.
“Covid-19 has drawn tremendous at-
tention to walking and biking as increas-
ingly safe modes of transportation,” Mr.
Schwartz said. “We know there will be fu-
ture epidemics, superstorms, blackouts
and transit strikes.”
The Regional Plan Association, an in-
fluential planning group, recently un-
veiled a master plan for a Five Borough
Bikeway: a 425-mile continuous network
of protected, priority bike lanes. It would

build upon the city’s current bike net-
work, which includes sections that are
not connected and do not have physical
barriers separating cyclists from driv-
ers.
Still, the bridge proposal faces big hur-
dles. It would require city and state ap-
provals, and a hefty investment at a time
when the pandemic has plunged the city
into its most dire fiscal crisis in genera-
tions, which may require other trans-
portation infrastructure projects to be
put on hold.
City and state officials said they would
review the bridge proposal. City officials
added that they had made expanding cy-
cling and mobility options a priority. “We
appreciate the engineers’ hard work in
crafting a proposal to reimagine mobility
in our city,” a spokesman for the mayor
said.
Andrew Rein, the president of the Citi-

zens Budget Commission, a nonprofit
watchdog group, said the bridge’s poten-
tial benefits must be weighed against the
city’s competing transportation needs.
“There are trade offs,” he said. “When
you weigh these projects, something has
to give. If the city were to do this, what
project would it decide not to do?”
Other things to consider, Mr. Rein add-
ed, would be where the bridge fits into
the city’s overall plan for cycling and how
much it would cost to maintain the new
bridge once it was built.
Mr. Schwartz said the new bridge
could potentially be funded through a
public-private partnership.
His group sees the Queens Ribbon as
the first of three pedestrian-and-bike
bridges. The other two, which are still be-
ing developed, would link Lower Man-
hattan and Brooklyn, and Manhattan
with New Jersey across the Hudson

River. Each bridge would be 20 feet wide,
and could carry up to 20,000 people a day.
The Queens Ribbon was designed by
T.Y. Lin International, an engineering
firm. It would be a slender, flexible sus-
pension bridge modeled after industrial
bridges that carry pipes for gas or elec-
trical power, said Michael Horodniceanu,
a professor of civil engineering at New
York University who helped develop the
bridge proposal.
Dr. Horodniceanu said the bridge
would expand biking and walking op-
tions, and would also help the city’s econ-
omy recover by creating new construc-
tion jobs. “There are so many ways that
this will be a winner,” he said.
Polly Trottenberg, the city’s trans-
portation commissioner, said at a news
conference this week that the Koch
Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge had been
“pinch points for cycling in and out of
Manhattan.”
The Koch Bridge, which opened in
1909, is the only direct connection for pe-
destrians and cyclists between Midtown
Manhattan and Queens. It becomes
crowded partly because cycling is
banned across another major bridge
crossing nearby, the Robert F. Kennedy
Bridge, which connects East Harlem in
Manhattan to Astoria, Queens.
Mr. Schwartz said he had called for
new pedestrian-and-bike bridges in
Manhattan for more than a decade as the
city’s population grew, tourism boomed
and development spread to practically
every neighborhood.
“We never learn that we have to fit all
the pieces together,” he said. “We can
build up to the sky, but if we can’t get peo-
ple in, we will never fully use what we
build.”

A Proposed Link for Manhattan and Queens, for Bikes and Pedestrians Only


By WINNIE HU

A rendering of the Queens Ribbon, a proposed bridge for cyclists and pedes-
trians that would connect Midtown Manhattan to Long Island City in Queens.

T.Y. LIN INTERNATIONAL
Free download pdf