LGBT Proponents At Manhattan College and Baylor University

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Throughout the world of academia, many individuals and institutions advocate for the LGBT movement, including people at religious institutions.

At Manhattan College, which specifically identifies as “a Lasallian Catholic college,” the LGBT Student Group recently sponsored its first Pride Week on campus. The Quadrangle student newspaper reported that festivities included participation from students as well as faculty:

During the week of April 22-26, 2019, Manhattan College celebrated its first ever Pride Week, sponsored by the Manhattan College LGBT Student Group. The week included daily events celebrating queer visibility and pride in a variety of settings.

On the second day of celebrations, the LGBT Student Group hosted a Queer Academia Panel consisting of LGBT faculty and students sharing their voices and expertise on focused topics of queer experiences in academia. Topics ranged from being a female queer person of color, pronoun politics, lgbt inclusive education, and more.

The Quadrangle quoted Roi Mase, the president of the LGBT group stating that, “‘Our first pride week was a huge success, and although it was small it shows that the Queer community at Manhattan College is growing! I hope more people become involved and carry the torch in the future!’”

At Baylor University, a Christian college in Texas, an LGBT group wants recognition as an official student group, but has not been granted official status by the university. According to an article published by Houstonchronicle.com, “The private Baptist university has refused to recognize Gamma Alpha Upsilon, or ‘GAY’ in Greek letters, as an official student group since its inception in 2011.”

The article explains that thousands of people have signed a petition calling on Baylor to give the group official status: “More than 3,000 Baylor University alumni, students, staff and former faculty signed a growing petition addressed to university officials supporting the group’s fight to be recognized.”

Although the group is not sanctioned by the school, any student participation in it appears to directly violate the college’s “Statement on Human Sexuality” which specifically states that students should not engage in groups promoting unbiblical ideas about sexuality:

The University affirms the biblical understanding of sexuality as a gift from God. Christian churches across the ages and around the world have affirmed purity in singleness and fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman as the biblical norm. Temptations to deviate from this norm include both heterosexual sex outside of marriage and homosexual behavior. It is thus expected that Baylor students will not participate in advocacy groups which promote understandings of sexuality that are contrary to biblical teaching. [Emphasis added]