When Religious Freedom is Religious Discrimination: LGBTQIA2S+ Discrimination in Higher Education

Having faced discrimination and harassment because I am an openly gay man at a previous place of employment, in a religious-affiliated higher education context, my antenna goes off when I read of similar stories. It is amazing when private schools of higher education claim that they are, first and foremost, religious-affiliated institutions of higher education, and therefore have the legal right to discriminate against LGBTQIA2S+ people, even though they receive state and federal funds, and have powerful men's and women's basketball teams.  This is when so-called "religious freedom" becomes "religious discrimination" against LGBTQIA2S+ people. 

In an article posted on the advocate.com website by Alex Cooper, he wrote about Michael O'Keefe, who had been teaching graphic design at the university for over 41 years who was fired on Monday, March14, 2022, from Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond, OK. His crime? Having gay speakers present in his class. It wasn't based on Mr. O'Keefe's sexual orientation. It was based upon the people he had come through his class as a guest speaker in one of his senior classes.

The crime? From Mr. O'keefe's Lawyer, Kevin Jacobs: "Michael O'Keefe was fired by Oklahoma Christian University allegedly for his 'gross misconduct, conduct contrary to the mission and values of Oklahoma Christian University and disregard of the policies and values of the university.' It is our belief Mr. O'Keefe was terminated for having a guest speaker for his senior level class...One of the speakers was an Oklahoma Christian alumnus and an Oklahoma Christ adjunct professor for 20 years. This speaker is also gay... Letting students expect a world where you may be different is the message Mr. O'Keefe wanted his students to hear. That's message this speaker delivered, not an advocacy of gay rights. Unfortunately, that's not permitted at Oklahoma Christian University today. It cost Mr. O'Keefe his job."

Here's a link to the story: https://www.advocate.com/news/2022/3/15/christian-university-allegedly-fires-professor-hosting-gay-speaker.

This is not the first such-case of discrimination, nor will it be the last. It is just the latest. 

If Mr. O'Keefe's "crime" was a "disregard of the policies and values of the University," a Christian university at that, does that mean that welcoming the stranger is not a Christian value? Wouldn't Jesus welcome the stranger? Is loving one's neighbor not a Christian value, as espoused by Jesus in all four Gospels? Is not sharing the Gospel with each other not a Christian value, and what we were called to do? What are the so-called Christian "values" that support and uphold the ethics of this University? Simply shunning and loosening the ties with others if you don't like the way God created them? Is there a similar fate facing those who are the wrong gender? The wrong race? The wrong ethnicity? The wrong nationality? The wrong socioeconomic background? Those who are disabled? Deaf? Wrong age?

To my LGBTQIA2S+ friends and allies: We are in a rough span of days, in which the backlash and attempts of erasing "us" from the social landscape by the so-called religious right or white evangelicals is feeling empowered to discriminated against especially transgender people, if not all of us in the LGBTQIA2S+ community. And after they are "done" with us, then it is on to people who are black, indigenous, and other people of color, and so on, and so on.

It is time to stop those who wish to discriminate and hurt us. Because their actions are, in the long run, simply evil run amok. 

The struggle is real. Courage is the virtue we must practice right now in naming the hate-filled actions and rhetoric of those who would wish to hide behind skirt of the Church.

Courage!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reflections on the Day The United Methodist Church Came Into the 21st Century

Welcome, members of The United Methodist Church (UMC), who, this day, May 1st, 2024, joined the 21st century, affirming the presence and welcoming those of us who are LGBTQIA2S+ people to be ordained, to serve churches, to marry, and to officiate at other weddings of same sex couples. Heck, you can now even use funds from within the UMC to pursue funding programs that assist people who are LGBTQIA2S+ in being and becoming more of the body of Christ through the practices of Methodism. Imagine: You can now focus on other issues that are facing Christendom! Hunger. Poverty. Peace-making programs. Gun control. Global climate. Houselessness. You name it. Praise God. Here’s a link to the news:  https://religionnews.com/2024/05/01/united-methodists-strike-down-ban-on-ordination-of-gay-clergy/  This day was, indeed, a long way in coming. 1972 is when that horrible language was published as part of your Constitution. Richard Nixon was President. HIV/AIDS was not yet an issue.  I’v...
Read more

The Threat of Stoning a Black Gay Man in Oregon! Time to Rise Up!

 As reported by Rachel Shatto in the Advocate.com website on Aug. 5, 2021 (that is 2021), Eric Osterberg, who is assistant to the city manager of Klamath Falls and staff-lead for the city's equity task force, was about to deliver a report on equity in the city before the city council when a man stood up with a stone the size of his hand and said to Eric: "Oh, so you think we are all racists? You think you are the second coming of Christ?" The man then accused Eric of spreading HIV and AIDS, saying he was blasphemous for being a Black gay man. The man continued: "You are a sinner and you need to be stoned. That is why I brought this stone."  The man with the stone was simply escorted out of the building by Klamath Falls police chief Robert Dentinger and simply released and sent home rather than being arrested, though Dentinger said he may have to talk with the man with the stone more in the future. You think? "The incident left Osterberg shaken. 'I felt ...
Read more

Discriminating in the Name of God at Calvin University

I read this article on advocate.com, by Trudy Ring, about an assistant professor on the faculty of Calvin University, who was fired from his position at Calvin because he officiated at a wedding of a same sex couple. The by-line? " Joseph Kuilema lost his job with Calvin University after officiating a queer couple's wedding. He's disgusted that the school discriminates in the name of God. ” That about says it all. Yes, the University is discriminating against LGBTQIA2S+ people and allies. I don’t get it. There are a lot of  smart, creative, insightful people at Calvin University. They don’t have to “buy” into the conservative politics of the Christian Reformed Church, of which they are connected. They are an institution of higher education. Surely, they can see discrimination when it is around them in the Grand Rapids area.  But apparently they are all right with openly practicing discrimination among themselves, especially when it comes to LGBTQIA2S+ people.  F...
Read more