Oregon’s George Fox University is a decidedly Christian college… a private, Christian college. All you have to do is take a quick glance at their website and it’s perfectly clear. No question about it.
Jayce, a transgender male student at the school has filed a lawsuit against the university for being denied on-campus housing (in a male dormitory) based on his gender. Jayce’s assigned birth sex is female.
For clarity, the school denied his request based on their housing policy stating that students may only house with other students of their same assigned birth sex. The school cites their “theological and philosophical statement” as the reason for this policy.
The school has made or offered to make concessions to arrive at an agreeable compromise with Jayce. None of them have been acceptable to him.
- The school offered Jayce “a conditional one-year waiver from the school’s off-campus housing regulations” with the stipulations that potential roommates be made aware of his transgender history and that he legally changed his name and gender on his driver’s license, and Social Security card.
- The school offered Jayce the option to stay in a single dorm room on-campus.
The problem here is this… Jayce knew that this college was a Christian college. Was he unaware that a transgender lifestyle is not consistent with Bible teachings? If he didn’t know what their theological stance was, that’s on him. It’s not the college’s fault that he wasn’t aware of their policies or doesn’t want to conform to their policies. It is a PRIVATE university with a religious foundation which is protected by our Constitution. No one is forcing him to attend the college. That’s HIS choice. He needs to learn to live within the rules of the place he chose to attend, or opt to attend elsewhere. Expecting this private, Christian institution to bend or change it’s foundational beliefs to accommodate his is unrealistic.
Jayce, grow up. You can’t always have what you want. Some decisions don’t feel good. You say you feel “rejected, misunderstood, and punished for something [you] cannot change,” that’s unfortunate, but that isn’t the school’s fault. But if that’s how the school YOU chose to go to is making you feel, maybe it’s time to consider a new school, rather than trying to change the school to make it conform to you.
You can read more about this story here.
