By now, you've probably heard the story about former Southwestern Christian University student Christian Minard. She was kicked out of the Bethany bible college in March after the school learned she married her same-sex partner of three years during a private wedding ceremony in New Mexico.
Via The Huffington Post:
A lesbian student who married her partner was expelled from an Oklahoma university one semester shy of her sports management degree.
Christian Minard, 22, attended Southwestern Christian University, a school affiliated with the International Pentecostal Holiness Church in Bethany, Okla. As part of her admission requirements, she signed a lifestyle covenant that prohibits “homosexual behavior.”
Minard, who belongs to an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation in Oklahoma City, is a Christian, but her decision to marry her partner, Kadyn Parks, put her at odds with the school’s lifestyle covenant.
The two were married in Albuquerque, N.M., on March 17. On Wednesday (July 9), a letter addressed to Minard from Brad Davis, the school’s vice president of student life, arrived at her parents’ home, telling her she was being expelled.
“I was informed that you recently married someone of the same sex and saw a few pictures from Facebook,” Davis wrote. “Of course, this is opposing to our view as an International Pentecostal Holiness denominational university as well as the Lifestyle Covenant that all students must agree and sign.”...
The lifestyle covenant states that students may be required to withdraw for violating certain provisions of the covenant, including prohibitions on “homosexual behavior,” harassment, sexual misconduct, pornography, alcohol, tobacco and other “sins.”
Minard said she is aware that her relationship violates the covenant, but she is troubled at the inconsistent application of the rules, saying she believes she was singled out for being a married lesbian.
“Students violate parts of that covenant all the time, but they don’t get expelled,” she said. “I didn’t even get a hearing, just a letter to my parents.”
Connie Sjoberg, provost at the university, declined to comment on specifics of the situation, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, a federal law that prohibits colleges from disclosing information about students, even to parents.
This story is equal parts sad and happy.
It's sad because it reminds us, once again, that discriminating against people based upon their sexual orientation is still going strong in Oklahoma. If you're an intolerant Christian hypocrite, we are the state for you! Whether our Governor is trying to stop same-sex couples from applying for benefits, or a fledgling former bible college in Sally Kern's house district is expelling a lesbian student who is obviously a lesbian for simply falling in love and getting married, hate and bigotry seems like it will always have a home in our state.
That being said, the news is kind of happy because Christian will now be able to pursue a degree from a legitimate university! Good for her. At last check, a typo looks better on a resume than a degree from Southwestern Christian University. That place makes Oklahoma City Community College look like a literal Harvard on May. It's the perfect place to go to school if you want to be a manager at Best Buy or a career waiter.
Of course, this story has made international news. It's even drawn outrage from local religious groups.
Via NewsOK.com:
Oklahoma City stance on 'Black Mass' upsets Catholic archbishop
The Catholic leader says in an email the city’s legal staff surely could “find a way around this.”
Archbishop Paul Coakley says Oklahoma City should have the “courage” to prohibit a Civic Center production mocking Catholic beliefs, a course of action City Manager Jim Couch expects would result in a lawsuit the city probably would lose, at significant cost to taxpayers.
A satanist has rented a small, basement theater in Civic Center Music Hall to stage a “Black Mass” on Sept. 21. The organizer says the event is similar to a Catholic Mass, but involving a sacrifice to the devil, a practice known as inversion of the Christian ritual.
“I think something as outrageous as this requires a measure of moral courage on the part of the city of Oklahoma City,” Coakley wrote on July 8. “I am disappointed the city would be unwilling to risk the expense of a lawsuit to prevent such an offensive outrage to so many of its citizens.”...
Oops, my bad. The Oklahoma City archbishop isn't mad that a university expelled a student based upon her sexual orientation. He's simply getting his panties in wad over a satanic "black mass" being held at The Civic Center (a public space). I guess I don't blame him. Those Satanists sure are "offensive," huh? We should all be "outraged." Before you know it, they're going to start openly discriminating against gays and lesbians.
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