Gay Sex: Against the Rules?

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During an ordinary night out in the Gayborhood, it may be hard to imagine what it must be like to be gay at a Christian college. But for employees at Shorter University in Rome, Ga., it all got a little too real recently when the president introduced a pledge that forbids the staff from drinking in public and engaging in gay sex.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Shorter University President Don Dowless has asked more than 200 employees to sign the “Personal Lifestyle Statement,” which requires them to also reject premarital sex and adultery. Refusing to do so, he says, will result in termination.

“I think that anybody who adheres to a lifestyle that is outside of what the biblical mandate is and of what the board has passed, including the president, would not be allowed to continue here,” Dowless told Action News. He became the university’s 19th president this past June. He’s also worked as a pastor and missionary.

The initiative was approved by the Board of Trustees this month and was presented to administration last week. And already many people have signed a petition against the new agreement. As of press time, the petition has garnered more than 1,700 signatures of the 2,000 needed to submit it to the university.

It’s our hope that more people come out in opposition of this dangerous initiative, which openly discriminates against LGBT people. The newspaper reports that one employee of the school talked anonymously to an LGBT publication about the policy, saying it has some staff members worried that disagreements at work could lead others to turn in gay people “out of spite.” And a student also told the news that the judgement being perpetuated doesn’t exactly jive with Christian teachings.

Despite the dangerous legal waters that the school is treading, that’s not stopping Dowless from enforcing the new policy with a vengeance. “Anything outside that is not biblical, we do not accept,” he says. He also added, “We have a right to hire only Christians.”

The mission of Shorter University is “to provide quality higher education, enabling and encouraging student commitment to active life-long learning, personal spiritual values, responsible citizenship, and community and societal leadership in a global context,” according to the school’s own website.

So much for higher education.