Gay students at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville don’t exist. They can’t exist.
So says Dr. Michael Farris, the college’s founder and chancellor.
It’s simple, really. Homosexuals can’t exist at Patrick Henry College because the students sign an honor code, Farris claimed.“[Homosexuals] could not sign our honor code,” Farris said, adding that he considers the actions of gay men and women “sinful.”
“Part of the honor code is to be sexually pure,” he added.
So you can imagine the chancellor’s consternation when he learned of Queer at Patrick Henry College, a six-month-old, provocatively-titled blog operated by three pseudonymous writers – all of whom graduated from or have taken classes at the school.
Queer at Patrick Henry College’s intent is to be a “safe online space for closeted students and alumni to share thoughts about LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) issues, without the risk of school punishment,” according to one of the blog’s founders, who goes by the nom de plume Kate Kane.
“Currently there are three contributors, though we are in contact with other students and graduates who are LGBTQ or identify as straight allies,” Kane said.
FROM THE LOUDON TIMES.
The chancellor has his head in the sand. Shocking.
ReplyDeleteThe only other person I've heard make a comment like this is Ahmadinejad. Not good company to keep, though maybe the good chancellor is aiming for a speaking engagement at Columbia.
ReplyDeleteHere's yet another case where Catholics are far more consistent than most fundamentalist Christians (abortion/the death penalty/beginning of life and poverty issues are two others). At least they make a distinction between sexual identity (not a concept that appears to have been familiar in the societies from which the Bible arose) and sexual behavior. Farris apparently doesn't understand that distinction (or a number of other legal points, which is either alarming or comforting, depending on your viewpoint, since using the law/government processes to impose their view of morality is a big part of Patrick Henry's mission. It's no accident that they're located in the -- distant -- D.C. suburbs).
ReplyDeleteBravo to the bloggers, and best wishes on their faith journeys. I'm inclined to think they might want to explore faith traditions that read the Bible in historical context, but everyone finds his/her own balance.
Farris got his first taste of fame when he was a young lawyer defending some parents (in Tennessee I think) who didn't want their kids reading "The Wizard of Oz" because it promoted witchcraft. He then ran for Lt. Governor in Virginia, but lost in the general election. Just a couple weeks ago he was busying lobbying the Senate to reject the UN Disabilities treaty because it would allow federal stormtroopers to size children with glasses from their parents or some such.
ReplyDeleteHe sounds like a blander version of Fred Phelps, the disbarred lawyer who began a gay-hating cult, Westboro Baptist Church.
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