Dignity was founded in early 1969 in
San Diego, California, by Father Patrick Nidorf, first as a counseling group, then as a support group. That makes it a "pre-
Stonewall" LGBT organization that is still in existence. The first chapter of Dignity formed in 1970 in
Los Angeles. In 1982, lesbian members of Dignity founded the Conference for Catholic Lesbians, out of concern that Dignity was too oriented toward males. After its founding in 1969, the Catholic church refused to view Dignity as a church in the overall Catholic Church. The Official Catholic Church called for Father Pat to step down from his position. Dignity decided to continue on as a laylit organization. For the church, it was a big turning point: “[The] choice helped shape Dignity into what it is today”. The struggle did not end there. In 1975, the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith published a writing stating concern over any changing of socially exempted gender or sexuality norms. It stated that, “In Sacred Scripture, they are condemned as a serious depravity and even condemned as the sad consequence of rejecting God.” This made acceptance for LGBTQ people even more restricted and led to more homophobia.
On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons On October 1, 1986, the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Catholic body charged to "spread sound
Catholic doctrine and defend those points of Christian tradition which seem in danger because of new and unacceptable doctrines", issued a letter entitled
On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons. In it, the Catholic Church affirmed its position that homosexual
activity was "objectively disordered" and that all support should be withdrawn from any organization that undermined the Church's teaching or were ambiguous about or neglectful of it. During the AIDS crisis, Dignity took a large role in supporting those with AIDS and their families. Many did not even know their loved ones were gay at the time, “We were often with families as they learned their son was gay and did not have long to live, or worse, had died too ashamed or fearful to share these secrets with them.” ==Honors==