Archbishop John Nienstedt of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis denied communion to students wearing rainbow pins in support of LGBT rights.

The 25 Catholic college students wearing pins were protesting against the Catholic Church’s treatment of homosexuals and speaking out against Nienstedt’s reported authorization of 400,000 anti-gay DVDs being mailed throughout the state of Minnesota encouraging its residences to ban gay marriage rights.

“We wanted to make a statement to Archbishop Nienstedt–to stand in solidarity with GLBT students on our own campus that we don’t agree with what he’s doing,” said Elizabeth Gleich, a St. Benedict’s sophomore and straight ally to the cause.