Posted: May 24, 2023
When Raegan Zelaya and Shua Wilmot -- residence hall directors at Houghton University, a small school in western New York State affiliated with the Wesleyan Church -- added their pronouns to their email signatures, they thought of it as an easy, harmless thing they could do to make trans and non-binary students feel more comfortable.
But conservative leaders at the university saw the pronouns as a threat -- and retaliated.
When Raegan and Shua refused to remove their pronouns from their email signatures, Houghton administrators fired them both -- just a few weeks before the end of the semester.
Hundreds of Houghton students and alumni have signed a letter criticizing the firings and asking the school to better accommodate LGBTQ and affirming students and faculty.
Let's show the students that they're not in this alone -- and show Houghton President Wayne D. Lewis, Jr., that it's not just his students but a nationwide movement of Christians who want to see our churches and schools love and affirm LGBTQ people and their allies.
Sign the petition:
Love thy neighbor.