Washington teen Jace Taylor has lashed out against the Bellingham camping organization The Firs after losing his job as a camp counselor because he is gay.
Taylor had grown up attending The Firs functions and looked forward to his summer job as a camp counselor. On June 11, leaders of The Firs contacted Taylor over a photo of himself with another man he’d posted on Facebook. Representatives for the camping group asked if the man in the photo with Taylor was his boyfriend. When Taylor confirmed as much, the group fired him for not being in line with their “faith-based” policies.
“I wanted to like cry because I grew up going to the Firs since I was like five or six years old,” Taylor told local ABC news. “I’m very angry with them. It’s hard to forgive someone or a group who denied you for who you are. If you’re going to teach love and acceptance shouldn’t you be able to accept all staff members from all parts of the community?”
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In response to Taylor’s discharge about 100 members of the local community staged a march on The Firs facilities on Bellingham’s Lake Whatcom on June 24. Carrying Pride Flags, the group wanted to peacefully demonstrate against the camping org’s actions.
“In a peaceful loving way, we would really like to change hearts and minds. That’s really what we want to do. We want them to look inside themselves and look inside their organization and ask themselves, ‘Is this really Christ-like?'” said march organizer Cherrelyn Seegers.
The Firs denies that it fired Taylor for being gay; rather, the group asserts that because he is gay, he cannot conform to the moral standards of the camp.
“We don’t have a policy that we don’t hire gays,” Tom Beaumont, Executive Director for The Firs said in a statement. “The policy we do have as a faith-based organization is that we have a mission. Our staff needs to be in-line with that.” He added that despite the protest, The Firs has no plans to rehire Taylor.
In Washington state, it is legal for a religious organization to fire someone based on sexual orientation.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
“The Firs denies that it fired Taylor for being gay; rather, the group asserts that because he is gay, he cannot conform to the moral standards of the camp”
And my homework ate my dog……
stan2015
Went to a Christian Camp. It was one step below a kkk rally
JLinMN
Christianity needs to be thrown in the trash heap of history. It’s far time, especially for minorities that have been oppressed by this straight-white-colonialist mentality throw off the shackles of superstition and move on to a healthier way of thinking and life. Besides the regular indoctrination and unhealthy brainwashing the Christianity does to children, the stress and guilt associated with it are unnecessary and better left out of your life.
CurtisIsTheOne
The next thing you know, these “so called” Christians will start dressing up Jesus on the cross with a full set of clothes. You know, because the visuals of Jesus on the cross wearing just a loincloth are kind of homo erotic and we don’t want people to get the “wrong” idea. God forbid.
Mack
Another example of Republican Christians promoting their hatred.
boymikefl
If anyone was a “true” Christian, they would know that we all have sinned and fallen short.. something, something, etc.. I know that because when I was younger, I watched Jim & Tammy well…religiously. I am just Spiritual now so, my God let’s me be me. A better person than these phonies. Pence is the devil. Weak bitch.
charlietex
The world will be much better as a place when people stop embracing fiction and start embracing science.
GO_Phoenix
Couldn’t the kindly organisation have offered him counselling, themselves, to help normalise him? Hang on, though – on second thoughts he’s the one who’s already perfectly normal. Such blatant bigotry wrapped up in shameful bullshit!
TomG
These people from the camp have no true faith because the can’t seem to understand that God and Jesus are all about LOVE and not hate. And nowhere in the Christian part of the Bible does Jesus ever say anything about homosexuality. He may have been gay himself since with one exception he hung around with men.
adje
these camp organisers surely will be questioned at heaven’s gate , If there is such a thing, and sent to hell by st. Peter for following demented clergy instead of the words of christ.
b2rocketfan
Either way, the poor kid was fired because he’s gay. I can only imagine the outrage if someone were fired for being evangelical. They’d be on every FOX station announcing their persecution. Ugh. Troglodytes.