A Christian university in California has taken steps toward inclusion by removing a ban on LGBTQ relationships from its student code of conduct.
Azuza Pacific University, located in Azuza, CA about 26 miles north of Los Angeles, bowed to pressure from a queer student support group called Haven. Students participating in the group had to meet off-campus to avoid disciplinary action by the administration. The new policy will allow Haven to hold meetings on campus.
“We created this in support of the LGBTQ+ students at APU,” said associate dean of students Bill Fiala. “One prong of that is the weekly meetings with Haven. Another aspect of that is educational outreach, and holding events. We are co-creating a program with students.”
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Fiala went on to tell the campus newspaper Zu Media that the new policy regarding LGBTQ students still aligns with the school’s evangelical-Christian values, it still prohibits gay sex. “The change that happened with the code of conduct is still in alignment with our identity as a Christian institution,” he explained. “The language changed, but the spirit didn’t. Our spirit is still a conservative, evangelical perspective on human sexuality.”
In fairness, the school still bans any kind of sexual behavior among unmarried students, gay or straight, as it does not align with the Christian values the university purports to espouse. Azuza Pacific also continues to denounce marriage equality. The move also comes following allegations of anti-LGBTQ discrimination. In 2013, the school discharged a professor after coming out as transgender.
The move may not seem like much, though at the same time, school officials will probably have as much success in banning gay sex as they do straight sex. Just accepting same-sex relationships as healthy and loving goes a long way toward bringing much needed-tolerance to evangelical Christianity.
DCguy
Next they’ll accept women as long as they don’t have their periods, and black people as long as they aren’t black.
Captain proton
and Jews as long as they accept Christ into their hearts
Xzamilloh
What do you expect? For the religion to grow with the times? You might as well admit it’s BS and just chuck the parts of the religion you don’t like and keep the parts you do like, like the thousands of denominations of Christianity that currently do this but claim that we’re supposed to believe this contradicting collection of Iron/Bronze age gobbledygook is actually inspired from an unprovable god.
Whatever… go with God lol
Billy Budd
The pace of change in religions is measured in centuries. We will not live to see a full conversion to sanity, by Christianity, regarding human sexuality.
Billy Budd
I bet that if one of their priests is exposed as a pedo, they will promote him and say nothing happened -or that he repented, so he is forgiven by God. Christians are the supreme example of hipocrisy.
Lacuevaman
i see it as progress for a group of folks struggling to get it right in today’s world. all good so far. but the greater point here is would someone PLEASE tell DCGurl to STFU? she is such a bigoted idiot.
DCguy
So just so I understand your comment.
You defend the anti-LGBT bigots, and attack the account that pointed out their bigotry was still there.
Wow, you anti-LGBT trolls aren’t even TRYING to hide are you?
Lacuevaman
there you go again DCGurl…. roll that tape
can you grasp the concept that to grow from black to white you would have increments of gray? prob not.
Mack
What progress? They’ll accept them as long as they don’t have sex, but they allow the “straight” students to have sex? Bigotry much?
Lacuevaman
sMack: you remind me of a George B. Shaw quote; ““Youth is the most beautiful thing in this world—and what a pity that it has to be wasted on children!” and oh yes…. that Bobby Vee hit: “Come back when you grow up girl”
Kisses Kisses NOT
djmcgamester
I would think a Christian school would have a problem with ANYONE having sex on campus. Pre-marital sex is a no-no.
Heywood Jablowme
Well, with a straight couple in a place like that, it only becomes obvious they had sex if the girl gets pregnant. (Places like that are not noted for a good sex education curriculum.)
So if a gay couple get together in a place like that, probably the authorities won’t ever find out.
I’d make a joke about how places like that believe oral sex is not really “sex,” but after reading Queerty for a few years I’m sure about half the gay guys here believe that too, lol.
Jere
So can a legally married gay couple have sex then?
bookworm
My first question would be to wonder why any gay student would want to go to this school. Along those same lines, I’d also wonder why any gay person would want to move to Saudi Arabia!?
Kangol
In answer to the second question, a job and sex. A friend lived there and taught English in the 1990s, and said the guys were sexually voracious. They were so starved for sex, especially the gay and bi ones, that they would do almost anything for it. Since men spend most of their time together and the sexes are segregated outside the home, there were many opportunities for it. They’re an attractive group of men as a whole too. On the other hand, their version of their religion is extremely anti-gay, so it’s always a serious risk, especially for the Saudi guys.