Don’t expect for Our Lady of Perpetual Help to be of much use in the struggle for gay rights. The Monsignor at the church of that name in Kenner, Louisiana, Robert Guste gave an invocation at the first post-Katrina meeting of the New Orleans City Council. He said that the annual gay festival Southern Decadence and the city’s large number of gay bars were a contributing factor in the hurricane disaster. Guste made reference to non-gays he considers sinners too; Mardi Gras revelers, people who play casino games and people who enjoy erotic photographs. “Does this not invite divine judgment?” he asked council members.

Incongruously, Guste is the author of “Love’s The Message That I Heard.” He doesn’t seem to have heard the message well enough; we can only recommend a hearing aid. Guste is on record as saying that everything that happens is God’s will. Queerty is happy to agree with him there, at least as far as the normalization of marriage for homosexuals in various European countries, Canada and Massachusetts goes. Note to God: please speed up the progress. We do know some ladies who need perpetual help but that has nothing to do with Guste’s church of bigotry.