The List of the "Worst Colleges, Universities, and Seminaries" For LGBTQIA2S+ Students (and Faculty and Staff) Is Out! And Schools in the Pacific Northwest Are On This List

 There are lists you want to be on--lists of "best dressed," or "best restaurant in Portland"--along with awards you want to earn and receive, like an Emmy for television work, or an Oscar for film work. These all speak to accomplishments that you hope will receive recognition.

There are some lists that you hope you are on the bottom of and get a failing grade, like an F, like the National Rifle Association (NRA).

The list I referred to last week on this blog site needs to be "lifted up" and recognized some more, rather than burying it in the blogspot I entered last week.

This is the list of 200 worst colleges, universities, and seminaries for LGBTQIA2S+ students, and I would add faculty and staff, compiled by Campus Pride, a national organization that keeps track of the safety on campuses for LGBTQIA2S+ students.  The reason I broadened it beyond students is simple: if it is discriminatory and hostile to students, then it would also be hostile for out-LGBTQIA2S+ staff and faculty as well. 

Some of the Pacific Northwest colleges and universities that are on this list include George Fox University in Newberg, OR; Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, WA; Northwest University in Kirkland, WA; and Multnomah University in Portland, OR, to name a few. If Concordia University, which was in Portland, OR, was still open, it would've been on this list.

The seminaries it lists does not surprise me, but saddens me, because I know good people who went to these schools or work at these seminaries. They include Asbury Seminary, which has some UMC roots, along with Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA, in which I know a lot of Presbyterian Church (USA) clergy have attended in the past. 

Of course, there are many Southern Baptist and Roman Catholic-connected schools and seminaries on this list, along with schools associated with the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) and Presbyterian Church of America (PCA), both conservative off-shoots of the mainline, more liberal, denominations. There are a lot of Nazarene schools. There is Yeshiva University, which I mentioned last week, which is an Orthodox (conservative) Jewish university. There are also schools like Liberty University on this list, which has no affiliation with any national or international denominations. And there are Mormon universities on the list. Again, this came as no surprise. 

What is especially sad is that this list is not shrinking, but growing. As Alejandra Molina reported on religion news.com: “Campus Pride envisions campuses and a society free of anti-LGBTQ+ prejudice, bigotry, and hate,” Shane Windmeyer , executive director of Campus Pride, said in a statement on Twitter. “The growing anti-LGBTQ+ attacks on youth across the country makes the release of #TheWorstList even more crucial and timely.”

For a copy of the list, here's a link: https://www.campuspride.org/worstlist

Friends, I know we can do better than this. We want to live in a world where there is less hate, bigotry, prejudice, and discrimination towards LGBTQIA2S+ people. That's why I write this blog, to keep people informed on what is happening in religious circles and LGBTQIA2S+ people. We need to keep informed. Then, we need to address those in power in these institutions, and engage in a conversation. Finally, we need to work in our churches, mosques, and synagogues, teaching our children and young people the beauty of God, and being created in the image of God, and the diversity that is found in that image.

May it be so.