Mormon university professor fired after refusing to back down from LGBT support
A Mormon university professor has been fired after refusing to renounce her support for LGBT rights.
Ruthie Robertson, an adjunct professor at the Mormon Church-affiliated Brigham Young University in Idaho, posted on Facebook last month to support LGBT people.
The Pride Month-inspired message urged the Church to change its position on homosexuality.
The politics professor wrote: “This is my official announcement and declaration that I believe heterosexuality and homosexuality are both natural and neither is sinful.
“I will never support the phrase ‘love the sinner, hate the sin’ because that “sin” is part of who that person is,” she continued, according to local news station KUTV.
“Most Christian faiths label homosexuality as a sin based on archaic writings.
“A few hateful verses in the Old Testament have led to hundreds of years of prejudice, hatred, violence, and pain.
“If we’re going to follow the Old Testament, and use it to justify a hateful stance, there are several other things we need to start condemning and punishing.”
The post went viral, and despite Robertson’s insistence that her account was private and she was not Facebook friends with any of her students, the university sprung into action.
She said the authorities implicitly threatened to let her go from her job if she didn’t retract her pro-LGBT statement.
Robertson immediately attempted to mollify the university, posting that her views did not represent those of BYU-Idaho or the Mormon Church, but it proved fruitless.
She said she could not renounce or take back her views, because she wanted her LGBT friends to know they had her support.
“I could not take it back,” she concluded.
And clearly, Robertson is still standing strong.
Earlier today, she posted a photo on Facebook of a man dressed as Jesus, holding a rainbow placard with the words “I’m cool with it” – in front of a sign reading: “Homosexuality is sin! Return to Jesus!”
And she told KUTV that she has no intention of leaving her church.
BYU-Idaho told the outlet that university policy prohibits the university from commenting on personnel issues.
