Just as California’s High Court sent the issue of gay Marriage in CA back to the people, promising yet another election year referendum on the topic, Crystal Dixon (pictured), the VP of Human Resources at the University of Toledo, was fired for expressing her own private views (that the gay rights movement is not equivalent to the black Civil Rights movement) in the Toledo Free Press!
Crystal Dixon told a group of supporters yesterday her constitutional rights were violated when she was fired from the University of Toledo for writing a column that said people who choose to be homosexual are not civil rights victims because they can choose not to be gay and expressed her religious beliefs that there are consequences to those who violate God's divine order.
Ms. Dixon said she had a divine mandate to write the column, "Gay rights and wrongs: another perspective," for the Toledo Free Press as a private citizen and that she should not have been fired from her position as associate vice president for human resources at UT because of it.
"Whether you agree with me or not is really not the issue," she said. "The real issue is that I, like every citizen in the United States, have a First Amendment right to exercise free speech and to express my religion.
"I did so as a private citizen and I have been fired by a university that I have loved, served, and supported for many years."
Ms. Dixon's column appeared April 18 on the Toledo Free Press' online edition. It was written in opposition to a column written by Editor-in-Chief Michael Miller that said Ohio lags in gay rights.
Crystal Dixon told a group of supporters yesterday her constitutional rights were violated when she was fired from the University of Toledo for writing a column that said people who choose to be homosexual are not civil rights victims because they can choose not to be gay and expressed her religious beliefs that there are consequences to those who violate God's divine order.
Ms. Dixon said she had a divine mandate to write the column, "Gay rights and wrongs: another perspective," for the Toledo Free Press as a private citizen and that she should not have been fired from her position as associate vice president for human resources at UT because of it.
"Whether you agree with me or not is really not the issue," she said. "The real issue is that I, like every citizen in the United States, have a First Amendment right to exercise free speech and to express my religion.
"I did so as a private citizen and I have been fired by a university that I have loved, served, and supported for many years."
Ms. Dixon's column appeared April 18 on the Toledo Free Press' online edition. It was written in opposition to a column written by Editor-in-Chief Michael Miller that said Ohio lags in gay rights.
She was placed on paid administrative leave the same day.Ms. Dixon wrote that people who choose to be homosexual are not civil rights victims because they can choose not to be gay and expressed her religious beliefs that there are consequences to those who violate God's divine order.
According to the Toledo Blade, “Her column was followed by one written by UT President Lloyd Jacobs on May 2 that distanced her opinions from the university, stating that among the UT's "core values" are diversity, integrity, and teamwork.
“A letter from Dr. Jacobs to Ms. Dixon said her public position was in direct contradiction with university values and told her that her position "calls into question your continued ability to lead a critical function within the administration as personnel actions or decisions taken in your capacity as associate vice president for human resources could be challenged or placed at risk. The result is a loss of confidence in you as an administrator."
Ms. Dixon cited her 25-year career in human resources in which she has hired and recommended the hiring of both homosexual and heterosexual people based on their qualifications.”
For her part, Ms. Dixon noted, "To say that I cannot have a personal opinion regarding the practice of some humans and not be effective in my job as a human resources leader is preposterous given my track record for the past 25 years."
Matt Lockwood, a UT spokesman, said yesterday the university welcomes dissent and input from others and the exchange of ideas, but her public expressions called into question her ability to do the functions of her job.
"Certain jobs within a public institution have restrictions on what those people in those jobs can express," he said.
The issue surrounding Ms. Dixon's termination has gained national attention, including mention on The Rush Limbaugh Show, the Family Research Council's Web site, and a number of Web sites and blogs with a focus on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues.
Michelle Stecker, interim executive director of EqualityToledo, said she believes it's such a charged issue because Ms. Dixon wrote what she did while working in human resources at a public institution that promotes diversity.
"She's the one who made that choice to use this type of inflammatory language against the LGBT community," Ms. Stecker said. "If she was an administrator of the chemistry department, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Ms. Stecker also said she's glad Dr. Jacobs had the courage to take decisive action to support diversity at UT.
Chris Link, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, said the focus should be on Ms. Dixon's job performance, and not what she said with her First Amendment right to speech.
"It would seem perfectly fair and logical for the university to say if this is what you believe, we have to look at your job performance," she said, later adding, "look at their actions, not their words. People should be punished for their actions."
Ms. Dixon's attorney Tom Sobecki, who is working with the Thomas Moore Law Center in Ann Arbor on her case, said they are investigating legal action, including the violation of her First Amendment right as well as religious and racial discrimination. Nothing was filed as of yesterday.
If nothing else, Crystal Dixon’s case seems to be a blatant violation of the basic concept of diversity – IDEOLOGICAL diversity, which is of paramount importance.
It should be remembered that Republicans have benefited from Ballot Referendums on Gay Marriage, ILLEGAL immigration and Eminent Domain over the past few cycles. Those issues bring Conservatives to the Polls and they tended to vote Republican, lately they’ve been able to vote for Blue Dog Democrats.
For Liberals that trend has amounted to a “pick your poison,” faced with either a permanent Republican majority OR ceding a large part of the Democratic Party to Conservatives!
“A letter from Dr. Jacobs to Ms. Dixon said her public position was in direct contradiction with university values and told her that her position "calls into question your continued ability to lead a critical function within the administration as personnel actions or decisions taken in your capacity as associate vice president for human resources could be challenged or placed at risk. The result is a loss of confidence in you as an administrator."
Ms. Dixon cited her 25-year career in human resources in which she has hired and recommended the hiring of both homosexual and heterosexual people based on their qualifications.”
For her part, Ms. Dixon noted, "To say that I cannot have a personal opinion regarding the practice of some humans and not be effective in my job as a human resources leader is preposterous given my track record for the past 25 years."
Matt Lockwood, a UT spokesman, said yesterday the university welcomes dissent and input from others and the exchange of ideas, but her public expressions called into question her ability to do the functions of her job.
"Certain jobs within a public institution have restrictions on what those people in those jobs can express," he said.
The issue surrounding Ms. Dixon's termination has gained national attention, including mention on The Rush Limbaugh Show, the Family Research Council's Web site, and a number of Web sites and blogs with a focus on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues.
Michelle Stecker, interim executive director of EqualityToledo, said she believes it's such a charged issue because Ms. Dixon wrote what she did while working in human resources at a public institution that promotes diversity.
"She's the one who made that choice to use this type of inflammatory language against the LGBT community," Ms. Stecker said. "If she was an administrator of the chemistry department, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Ms. Stecker also said she's glad Dr. Jacobs had the courage to take decisive action to support diversity at UT.
Chris Link, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, said the focus should be on Ms. Dixon's job performance, and not what she said with her First Amendment right to speech.
"It would seem perfectly fair and logical for the university to say if this is what you believe, we have to look at your job performance," she said, later adding, "look at their actions, not their words. People should be punished for their actions."
Ms. Dixon's attorney Tom Sobecki, who is working with the Thomas Moore Law Center in Ann Arbor on her case, said they are investigating legal action, including the violation of her First Amendment right as well as religious and racial discrimination. Nothing was filed as of yesterday.
If nothing else, Crystal Dixon’s case seems to be a blatant violation of the basic concept of diversity – IDEOLOGICAL diversity, which is of paramount importance.
It should be remembered that Republicans have benefited from Ballot Referendums on Gay Marriage, ILLEGAL immigration and Eminent Domain over the past few cycles. Those issues bring Conservatives to the Polls and they tended to vote Republican, lately they’ve been able to vote for Blue Dog Democrats.
For Liberals that trend has amounted to a “pick your poison,” faced with either a permanent Republican majority OR ceding a large part of the Democratic Party to Conservatives!
This just goes to show what liberals really mean by "diversity": a blind committment to left-wing ideology...or else.
ReplyDeleteCrystal Dixon's case is just weird.
ReplyDeleteONLY the Leftist dopes at a College could fire someone over what amounts to exhibiting "ideological diversity."
It's a great story in that it plays into the hands of those already inclined to see the left as Nazistic....not to mention making a hell of a lawsuit for Ms. Dixon.
I hope she cleans up, she deserves it.