Anglican Mainstream

Here is what happened to me… I am a human resources leader and practitioner who has worked in the Human Resources field for more than 25 years.  I am also a Black woman and a devout Christian. I was the interim Associate Vice President for Human Resources with the University of Toledo until University President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs terminated my employment effective May 8, 2008.  I worked for the University and its pre-merger entity the Medical University of Ohio since January 2002.  

In early April, 2008, I read an opinion piece by Mr. Michael Miller in the Toledo Free Press entitled “Gay Rights and Wrongs.  I absolutely respected Mr. Miller’s right to express his opinion while at the same time, I disagreed with several of the points that he made.  One of the freedoms that makes this country great and makes newspapers great, is the privilege of exchanging different points of view via public print communications.  Early on Sunday, April 6, 2008, I arose with a divine mandate (you may understand the term as divine inspiration) to write my opinion, based on my Christian faith in response to Mr. Miller’s article. 

I wrote my personal opinion, based upon my Christian faith, rooted in the foundation of Holy Scripture which is my Constitutional right.   

I wrote as a private citizen regarding an important public issue. A copy of that article’s text is on this website …  My article, entitled “Gay Rights and Wrongs – Another Perspective” was simply that – my expression of a different way of looking at the issue of homosexual practice and conduct.  I stressed in my article that I greatly value all humans by the sheer virtue that God created them and my personal and career track record proves that value.  At the same time, I along with everyone else in this country have the right to express an opinion about human practice, and human behavior be it adultery, stealing, lying, gossiping and more.  In my opinion, based upon Scripture, homosexuality is a practice of choice and cannot be equated to the color of one’s skin with which one is born.  

To make a long story short, when my opinion appeared in the online version of the Toledo Free Press, the University of Toledo thereafter placed me on paid administrative leave pending an investigation beginning April 21, 2008.  On May 5, 2008, I participated in a pre-disciplinary hearing with the University of Toledo President and in a letter dated May 8, 2008, my employment was terminated by the University of Toledo.   Several days before my hearing with the President, he publicly opined in our city’s major newspaper that my public comments did not accord with the stated University values.

Let me be clear.  I did not gay-bash nor do I hate homosexuals, in fact I have hired and recommended the hiring of homosexuals and heterosexuals based upon their qualifications and skills.  Indeed, I am called to love all people.  At the same time, the Bible in numerous areas, including Romans 1, beginning at verse 22 through 28, 2 Peter 2:6, Leviticus 18:22-23, Revelation 11:8, and more clearly declares the practice of homosexuality as sin.  Plain and simple.  Jesus Christ loves people, but He hates and judges their sinful practices and invites all of us to allow Him to transform our lives from the inside out.  It is ironic that at least two other colleagues at the University have publicly written articles in newspapers, in their official University capacities, in which they opposed or harshly (and unprofessionally) criticized the University’s administration and/or Toledo citizens on other issues and no discipline or termination has occurred for them.

For the entire article see HERE. 

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