Letter to the Editor

by Emily Paratore on March 19, 2026

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editors of The Cowl,

We are writing to you as students of Beyond the Closet: The LGBTQIA+ Experience, a class offered by Providence College. We are writing to provide an alternate perspective regarding the concerns raised in the letter to the editor in the Feb. 27 issue. To jog your memory, this letter condemned the use of an image from “a highly explicit homosexual TV show” (Heated Rivalry) as an image of love in the Valentine’s Day issue. Our class discussed this letter extensively, and we wish to respond.

First, the author of the letter places Heated Rivalry in the arena of counterculture and takes issue with the reference to it in The Cowl, suggesting that the show misrepresents Catholic notions of love. The only claim made by The Cowl was that the show represents a large “pop culture reference to love.” It does not endorse the show nor claim that it represents Catholic love. Rather, it explicitly states that it is a pop culture reference. Two years ago, a similar Valentine’s issue contained a reference to the couple from Netflix’s You, which depicts stalking, murder, and relationship violence. No one spoke up when this non-Catholic view of love was published. Heated Rivalry is arguably the biggest show of the year, making it a relevant pop culture reference to the readers of the student newspaper, and the opposite of countercultural.

Our biggest concerns regarding the letter are the ways in which microaggressions against the LGBTQ+ community are incorporated in the letter, drawing parallels to “outcasts, the scorned, the unwanted,” but indicating that LGBTQ+ individuals (or representations of that love) should not be “welcomed in,” because they represent sin. Per PC’s mission statement, “Providence College seeks to reflect the rich diversity of the human family. Following the example of St. Dominic, who extended a loving embrace to all, it welcomes qualified men and women of every background and affirms the God-given dignity, freedom, and equality of each person. Providence College promotes the common good, the human flourishing of each member of the campus community, and service of neighbors near and far.” LGBTQIA+ people are part of that human family that we attempt to create on this campus. We think that it is troubling that the letter’s author calls for respect when he is openly disrespecting a group of these brothers and sisters. The late Pope Francis called for Catholics not to judge those who have the Lord’s goodwill. It seems important that goodwill be extended here.

Jesus taught us to love each other. In John 8, he refuses to stone a woman for her sin. This example proves that Jesus preaches not to judge and condemn others, unlike what the Feb. 27 letter does to the LGBTQIA+ community. Times are inevitably changing; it was a mere 50 years ago that women could not enroll at PC. A central pillar of this college is respecting human dignity, and that dignity includes allowing different types of love to represent the love in the world and our Friar community.

Sincerely,

Students of Beyond the Closet: The LGBTQIA+ Experience.

Gracie Batsie ’28, Sophia Cremona ’28, Olivia Taveira ’26

Letter to the Editor: Concerning the Valentine’s Cowl

by Greg Scimeca ’26 on February 27, 2026

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editors of The Cowl,

This year’s Valentine’s publication featured a large page on the back side of the Portfolio Section of two gay men having an intimate moment. From what I am told, this was taken from the “largest pop culture reference to love,” which is from the show Heated Rivalry, a highly explicit homosexual TV show. I write this as someone who cherishes the Catholic Faith, and the values we hold at Providence College, namely truth and human dignity. First, I would like to speak to how strongly I believe in freedom of speech and of the press. For 250 years, our country has uniquely cherished freedom of speech. It is such a privilege to be able to use our voices to express counter-cultural media, content that is overlooked and even reviled by the majority. I also think that students should share their opinions, even if they happen to oppose Catholic teaching. Additionally, I would like to highlight PCs Catholic tradition. Rather than attempt to explain Catholic morality, I would like to simply say that the Church is not okay with same-sex relations. This is not to the exclusion of love. Instead, as St. Augustine teaches, we must love the person and hate the sin. Whether the editors intended to or not, this back cover page misrepresents the Catholic view of love. The article with the image was published on Valentine’s Day, a day that society perceives as a day to observe romantic love. At a Catholic school, this should be a day reserved for admiring the complementarity of the sexes as is discussed in Genesis and offering a perspective of virtue.

Writing this on Feb. 24, I was struck by Christ’s teaching in the daily Gospel readings. He teaches to avoid praying like the pagans, saying, “Do not be like them.” This quote encapsulates what I would like to encourage by writing this letter. As a Catholic school, we should of course model Christ’s message in everything we do, from our speech, to our writing, and even to our policies. Thus, we should “not be like” modern society, which has become increasingly pagan. Hence, it would be an incorrect approach for our newspaper to portray simply whatever is popular at the time. Let me offer a few counterpoints. First, this article is not an Opinion piece. On the contrary, it takes up the entire center insert page of the Portfolio Section, as much as the five student articles on the opposite side. In my belief, this prominence of selection represents the student-body views as a whole. However, many students whom I have talked with feel as though this does not represent their deeply held Catholic beliefs, and has no business being published in a Catholic school’s newspaper.

I want to offer a better, counter-cultural answer to this dilemma. Christ’s ministry, from its outset, was counter-cultural, fighting against the Pharisees, who set all the standards. He welcomed the outcasts, the scorned, and the unwanted. He rebuked sin of every kind, such as driving out the irreverent merchants in the temple. Most radically, he taught a harsh, violent world to turn the other cheek. By publishing this image, The Cowl, the student newspaper, becomes a spokesperson for the culture of sin which Christ came to annihilate.

Here at Providence College, we should welcome everyone. But we should never welcome sin.

Sincerely,

Greg Scimeca ’26