How Will Newly-Elected Pope Leo XIV Treat LGBTQ+ People?

America’s first leader of the Catholic Church, who has chosen the name Pope Leo XIV, has disappointingly expressed concerning views about homosexuality and same-sex families in the past.

On Thursday, the papal conclave elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost to head the Catholic Church following the death of Pope Francis last month.

Born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago, United States, Leo XIV becomes the first Pontiff in history to hail from the US. He spent many years serving the Church in Peru and was made a cardinal in 2023 by Pope Francis.

Will Pope Leo Take a Harder Stance?

While Pope Francis guided the Catholic Church towards a more welcoming posture towards LGBTQ+ individuals, it remains unclear how Pope Leo will approach these issues.

According to The New York Times, in 2012 he expressed regret that Western media and popular culture fostered “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel.”

He specifically raised concerns about the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”

Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to greet the faithful for the first time as the 267th Pope. pic.twitter.com/tsA1a0XSOM

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) May 8, 2025

 Wait-and-See Approach from LGBTQ+ Catholics

Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director of New Ways Ministry, a US-based LGBTQ+ Catholic group, welcomed the new pope with pride in his American heritage. However, he acknowledged that Leo XIV’s 2012 comments were “disappointing.”

DeBernardo expressed hope that “in the 13 years that have passed—12 of which were under the papacy of Pope Francis—his heart and mind have developed more progressively on LGBTQ+ issues.”

He added: “We will take a wait-and-see attitude to gauge whether that has indeed happened.”

“We pray that as our Church transitions from 12 years of an historic papacy, Pope Leo XIV will continue the welcome and outreach to LGBTQ+ people which Pope Francis inaugurated. The healing that began with ‘Who am I to judge?’ needs to continue and grow to ‘Who am I, if not a friend to LGBTQ+ people?’.”

Pope Francis’s Legacy

Although Pope Francis maintained his opposition to same-sex marriage and gender diversity, he made history by significantly softening the traditionally harsh stance on homosexuality.

While the Catholic Church still describes homosexual acts as “acts of grave depravity,” “intrinsically disordered,” and “contrary to natural law,” Francis promoted a more compassionate and less judgemental approach.

LGBTQ+ Catholics will be watching closely—and hoping—that Pope Leo XIV chooses to follow a similar path of inclusion and dialogue.