All people are deserving of love, dignity, and respect, regardless of their sexual orientation. LGBTQIA students are at a higher risk of suicide because of words like the Chancellor’s. Let’s affirm love over hate! It’s what Jesus did.
S
Seth Baxter
5 years ago
Doing harm is not love. Allowing others to do harm is not love. Show love.
P
Paige Elliott
5 years ago
Class of 2016
D
Daniel Sawtelle
5 years ago
Love is love is love is love. You can't say "God is love" while also saying a particular type of love is a sin.
T
Tiffani Swalley
5 years ago
While attended Lee my name was Tiffani Moore
B
Beverly Perry
5 years ago
Signed as a straight ally in the spirit of solidarity. We are called to love not judge.
A
Anonymous
5 years ago
Christ showed no discrimination in his love for and acceptance of others. The church should follow His example.
S
Sarah Slaton
5 years ago
Pretty sure the Bible says adultery is wrong too, yet here we are.
K
Kathryn Werk
5 years ago
Equal rights are so important for all! Everyone deserves the right to be who they are meant to be and be educated. Gender has nothing to do with education❤️
R
Rachel Tinaya
5 years ago
As LCSW I am mindful of the clinical and psychological consequences students experience with discrimination. Please affirm all students
D
Daniel Tidwell-Davis MDiv
5 years ago
2007 Biblical & Theological Studies / English Major
As a Queer person of faith, I affirm the beauty and sacred worth of every LGBTIQA+ person. My hope for Lee University students is to know that you are not alone, that your life belongs to you and is never defined by religious institutions that enact harm out of their own inability to accept the aspects of the human experience that make you wonderful.
M
Molly Dennis
5 years ago
Lee University needs to understand that LGBTQ+ students are a gift and not afflicted with something you can just pray away. This rhetoric leads to lifelong self-esteem issues, self-harming behaviors, and suicide. Be there for all of your students.
B
Brittany Victoria Livingston
5 years ago
Featured
I met my wife at Lee University. Our relationship was the best thing to come from Lee. While I don't want anyone to go through what we did, I'm grateful she and I share this history so, together, we can process the trauma Lee University caused us. We've been happily married for 10 years.
J
Jenny Park
5 years ago
Class of ‘05, and I can’t believe that 15+ years later, LGBTQ Lee students are still being shamed. Queer students, please know you are loved and admired. ❤️
S
Sheena Boran
5 years ago
M.A.T. Class of 2005
G
Gabi Ramsundar
5 years ago
Mark Walker, PEMDAS says repent before you throw the stone in your hand.
R
Rev Keith Mozingo
5 years ago
Rev. Troy Perry's book, The Lord Is My Shepherd And He Knows I'm Gay, was on the shelves of the Lee library in 1980. I found it in the "Abnormal Psychology" section. I wouldn't sign it out, as I didn't want my name on the card. I sneaked to read it on a different floor than I found it and put it back each day. I read it in three days. When I went back to re-read it, it had disappeared, along with the card from the card catalogue. That book lead me to Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), and it literally saved my life! Today, I'm the Sr. Pastor of Founders MCC, Los Angeles, and I'm Rev. Troy Perry's pastor! What a mighty God we serve! "Class of '81"
J
John Morris
5 years ago
When I attended Lee from 2009 to 2013, I too often saw students and faculty in leadership target non-cisgender/heterosexual individuals for disciplinary action based on same-sex sexual behavior, while often, despite the university’s claims, those accused of pre- or extra-marital heterosexual behavior were given far less severe penalties. I watched my friends in the LGBTQQIA+ community receive threats to be removed from their positions of leadership in clubs and choirs, to even have their financial aid taken away, if they didn’t “repent” of their sexual orientation expression (some of these individuals were even practicing celibacy to remain aligned with Lee’s Community Covenant). For these reasons, protective measures for LGBTQQIA+ students need to be taken by the university so that this does not continue.
My heart and soul are with all those whom the university and its sponsoring religious denomination marginalize because of sexual orientation and/or gender. Your lives and voices and experiences matter, enriching the world and its people, furthering the Kingdom of God into spaces and places no cis/het can ever take it. You are needed. Thank you for your patience, and I’m ponderously sorry for the persecution and oppression you’ve encountered at the hands of Christians and Lee, a place where Christ is to be King. You deserve better, and I pray to God you get it soon.
Lee taught me how to progress, and I won’t stop now. The school, denomination, and faith have work to do. Let’s get on it.
Jesus calls us to love everyone.
All people are deserving of love, dignity, and respect, regardless of their sexual orientation. LGBTQIA students are at a higher risk of suicide because of words like the Chancellor’s. Let’s affirm love over hate! It’s what Jesus did.
Doing harm is not love. Allowing others to do harm is not love. Show love.
Class of 2016
Love is love is love is love. You can't say "God is love" while also saying a particular type of love is a sin.
While attended Lee my name was Tiffani Moore
Signed as a straight ally in the spirit of solidarity. We are called to love not judge.
Christ showed no discrimination in his love for and acceptance of others. The church should follow His example.
Pretty sure the Bible says adultery is wrong too, yet here we are.
Equal rights are so important for all! Everyone deserves the right to be who they are meant to be and be educated. Gender has nothing to do with education❤️
As LCSW I am mindful of the clinical and psychological consequences students experience with discrimination. Please affirm all students
2007 Biblical & Theological Studies / English Major As a Queer person of faith, I affirm the beauty and sacred worth of every LGBTIQA+ person. My hope for Lee University students is to know that you are not alone, that your life belongs to you and is never defined by religious institutions that enact harm out of their own inability to accept the aspects of the human experience that make you wonderful.
Lee University needs to understand that LGBTQ+ students are a gift and not afflicted with something you can just pray away. This rhetoric leads to lifelong self-esteem issues, self-harming behaviors, and suicide. Be there for all of your students.
I met my wife at Lee University. Our relationship was the best thing to come from Lee. While I don't want anyone to go through what we did, I'm grateful she and I share this history so, together, we can process the trauma Lee University caused us. We've been happily married for 10 years.
Class of ‘05, and I can’t believe that 15+ years later, LGBTQ Lee students are still being shamed. Queer students, please know you are loved and admired. ❤️
M.A.T. Class of 2005
Mark Walker, PEMDAS says repent before you throw the stone in your hand.
Rev. Troy Perry's book, The Lord Is My Shepherd And He Knows I'm Gay, was on the shelves of the Lee library in 1980. I found it in the "Abnormal Psychology" section. I wouldn't sign it out, as I didn't want my name on the card. I sneaked to read it on a different floor than I found it and put it back each day. I read it in three days. When I went back to re-read it, it had disappeared, along with the card from the card catalogue. That book lead me to Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), and it literally saved my life! Today, I'm the Sr. Pastor of Founders MCC, Los Angeles, and I'm Rev. Troy Perry's pastor! What a mighty God we serve! "Class of '81"
When I attended Lee from 2009 to 2013, I too often saw students and faculty in leadership target non-cisgender/heterosexual individuals for disciplinary action based on same-sex sexual behavior, while often, despite the university’s claims, those accused of pre- or extra-marital heterosexual behavior were given far less severe penalties. I watched my friends in the LGBTQQIA+ community receive threats to be removed from their positions of leadership in clubs and choirs, to even have their financial aid taken away, if they didn’t “repent” of their sexual orientation expression (some of these individuals were even practicing celibacy to remain aligned with Lee’s Community Covenant). For these reasons, protective measures for LGBTQQIA+ students need to be taken by the university so that this does not continue. My heart and soul are with all those whom the university and its sponsoring religious denomination marginalize because of sexual orientation and/or gender. Your lives and voices and experiences matter, enriching the world and its people, furthering the Kingdom of God into spaces and places no cis/het can ever take it. You are needed. Thank you for your patience, and I’m ponderously sorry for the persecution and oppression you’ve encountered at the hands of Christians and Lee, a place where Christ is to be King. You deserve better, and I pray to God you get it soon. Lee taught me how to progress, and I won’t stop now. The school, denomination, and faith have work to do. Let’s get on it.
Queerness is a gift from God!