Erskine College Releases Anti-Gay Position That Will Inform “Institutional Decisions”

In February, the Board of Trustees at Erskine College, a Christian liberal arts school associated with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Due West, South Carolina, released a discriminatory statement claiming that marriage is “between a man and a woman,” and that sexual relationships between two people of the same sex are “contrary to the will of the Creator,” while citing passages from the Bible. The statement also noted that, “institutional decisions will be made in light of this position.”

Since issuing the statement, the college has attempted to provide “context,” claiming that: “This statement describes a position. It does not prescribe a policy and does not ‘ban’ any individual or class of individuals from attending Erskine.”

Cyd Zeigler at OutSports.com broke the story while criticizing Erskine’s statement and follow-up comments, saying the college’s Board of Trustees is clearly singling out gay and bisexual people, including two Erskine College athletes, Juan Varona and Drew Davis. Varona and Davis previously shared their stories on Outsports.com.

Erskine College’s Twitter account even tweeted a link to the policy at Varona and Davis, but the tweet has since been deleted. Zeigler notes that Erskine has not issued statements condemning other aspects of student life that conflict with passages in the Bible, such as pork being served in the cafeteria, or students getting tattoos.

GLAAD has been in contact with Juan Varona, and has previously worked with students at Christian colleges and universities around the country, including Biola University, Bob Jones University, Point Loma Nazarene, and Wheaton College. We will continue report any updates.

Originally published by GLAAD; Photo via flickr user Brandon C.