TOLEDO, May 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Crystal Dixon, associate vice president of human resources at the University of Toledo, was first suspended then fired after writing a letter to a local newspaper. In it she responded to a previous article released by the paper that compared the discrimination of homosexuals to that of African-Americans. Dixon, an African-American, challenged the civil rights comparison of race with homosexual behavior, saying that science has never found a genetic cause or DNA for homosexuality. She said many gay people have overcome unwanted homosexual feelings as evidenced by the growing population of PFOX and ex-gay organizations.
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) says the University of Toledo’s firing of administrator Crystal Dixon for speaking out about PFOX and the ex-gay community is an act of bigotry.
“African-Americans like Dixon have the right to defend their race without being subjected to punishment,” said Regina Griggs, Executive Director of PFOX. Dixon was responding to an article by Toledo Free Press Editor Michael Miller, who had compared gay rights to the African-American civil rights movement. Miller also wrote that three women he had dated subsequently declared themselves gay.
The University of Toledo reportedly has a “Safe Places Program” designating space for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning individuals.” According to Lloyd Jacobs, president of the university, there is a Safe Places sticker on his door of the president’s office. “Mr. Jacobs needs to add ex-gays and African-Americans to that list of campus ‘safe spaces,” said Griggs. “His firing of Dixon creates an unsafe environment for minorities.”
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Black University Employee Suspended for Objecting to Comparison between Black and Homosexual Discrimination
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08050605.html