A woman who was employed at a Mormon affiliated university in Idaho has been fired after posting a Facebook status that denounced the church’s treatment of the LGBT+ community, .
Ruthie Robertson is a lifetime member of the Mormon church and was an adjunct professor of political science at Brigham Young University. She posted her controversial Facebook post on June 5, as a way of celebrating Pride month and revealed some of her thoughts, “in the name of authenticity”.
“This organisation has openly and forcefully opposed same-sex relationships and legalised same-sex marriage,” she said of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," she wrote.
“They pushed members in California to fight against , and had a policy claiming that same-sex relationships were a sin and discouraged individuals from participating in them.
“In the past, the Church was a facilitator for adoptions. They ended this part of the organisation to avoid having to deal with adoption requests from same-sex couples.”
Ruthie Robertson wrote in her post: "Stand up for humanity, love people because of who they are...not despite who they are." Facebook Source: Facebook
“For an organisation that places so much importance on the family unit, this policy sure seems to be attacking a form of that unit,” she wrote.
“Most Christian faiths label homosexuality as a sin based on archaic writings. A few hateful verses in the Old Testament have led to hundreds of years of prejudice, hatred, violence, and pain.”
“None of this is archaic, sexist, or totally illogical at all though, right?” Robertson wrote.
She ended the post by saying: "I will always and forever stand up for the equality of the LGBT community”.
“Sexuality and gender are not binary, they are on a spectrum and that’s how we were made. Stand up for humanity, love people because of who they are...not despite who they are."
Ruthie Robertson was one of the university's youngest adjunct professors. Facebook Source: Facebook
The teacher was fired after she refused to take the post down, telling KUTV, “I could not take it back”.
Since the story has gained media coverage, Robertson posted a call out to her students on Facebook.
“Hey, to all my 170 Students on here, the scroll wants to do a piece on me being fired. Let's make sure they get a good view of what our classroom was like!”
She’s received praise for her stance with one commenter writing: “Thousands of the church's best and brightest people are leaving now days with the Advent of more information thank you for your support with gay marriage.”
Another said: “Bravo! I left the church long ago. My disagreement with the "reasons" homosexuality is a sin never sat well with me especially in this day and age and with everything else they so freely changed the church's views on.”
