ThinkProgress has an investigative report out detailing how the religious organization InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA, which is on more than 600 campuses, had implemented a policy of removing LGBTQ affirming staffers from its ranks and lied about it once it was discovered.
The narrative the organization pushed forward once the policy first came to light in TIME was that it would make some distinction between employees who supported "civil" same-sex marriage and those who "theologically" supported it. The former, apparently, would be okay while the latter would be cause for termination. But that was reportedly all just a bunch of hooey.
In a recent interview with ThinkProgress, Greg Jao, an InterVarsity vice president and director of campus engagement, confirmed that InterVarsity does, in fact, plan to fire individuals who say that their faith supports same-sex marriage. He continued to insist, however, that the termination process includes an element of choice, with administrators asking staffers who disagree with the policy to come forward on their own to preserve their “integrity.”
“We’re also going to acknowledge [staffers] have a choice in it,” he said. “We have told supervisors not to go after people we have heard disagree in the past.”
“I believe from the bottom of my heart that this has categorically not been the motivation for removing LGBTQI people from our staff,” he added.
Anyone who says "categorically" that they have not gone after "LGBTQI" staffers is obviously categorically defining its staff. But hey, don't worry, they're not going on witch hunts. Or so they say.
ThinkProgress reporting tells a different story. Interviews with former InterVarsity staff and internal documents obtained by ThinkProgress reveal a systematic, top-down campaign to remove staff members who even entertain theologies that do not condemn LGBT relationships—both before, during, and after the implementation of the policy.
It appears that InterVarsity’s “integrity” language falls flat with many of their employees, that the difference between “civil” and “religious” marriage was never cogently articulated, and that the supposed “choice” afforded to staff does not accord with the experiences of many who have been fired by the organization. Not only does the organization have a history of pressuring LGBT-affirming staff members to leave, but it also has utilized harmful anti-LGBT rhetoric and teachings that have damaged the lives and faiths of employees—and likely of students as well.
None of this is particularly shocking from a conservative Christian organization. But what is interesting in many ways is the fact that the policy made headlines in traditional publications like the Washington Post and TIME. Maybe it was the sheer size of the organization with some 1,300 employees or the fact that it serves campuses, which are undoubtedly teeming with liberal-leaning students.
But note to socially conservative Christians: your views are getting more antiquated by the day and firing people who disagree with you isn’t helping you win new converts.