Baylor University president says ‘LGBTQIA+’ advocacy is ‘inconsistent’ with its beliefs
Baylor University is returning a grant that aimed to foster “LGBTQIA+” inclusion in churches after facing criticism from evangelical Christian leaders.
Linda Livingstone, (pictured) president of the Texas Baptist university, made the announcement Wednesday – a week after The College Fix was one of the first to report about the grant and the mounting backlash.
In a message to the campus, shared with The Fix, Livingstone said faculty leaders in the School of Social work “voluntarily offered to rescind their acceptance” of the grant and return all the funding.
She said the university’s concerns were not about “the research itself,” but the “advocacy for perspectives on human sexuality that are inconsistent with Baylor’s institutional policies, including our Statement on Human Sexuality.”
The $643,400 grant was supposed to fund research on “the disenfranchisement and exclusion of LGBTQIA+ individuals and women within congregations.”
Additionally, it would have funded the development of “trauma-sensitive” materials to train churches in the acceptance of women and “LGBTQIA+” individuals, according to a news release, which was removed recently from the university website. These materials would have encouraged churches to adopt “more inclusive language” and develop “concrete steps toward genuine inclusion,” the release stated.
The grant came from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation, which promotes “progressive, inclusive” Christianity.
As The Fix reported last week, the news of the grant quickly sparked criticism from evangelical Christian pastors online, with some expressing concerns about the erosion of the university’s mission.
Livingstone acknowledged these concerns in her Wednesday statement, and said the university has not changed its beliefs about human sexuality.
“We affirm the biblical understanding of human sexuality as a gift from God, expressed through purity in singleness and fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman,” she said.
She said Baylor also is “committed to providing a loving and caring community for all – including our LGBTQIA+ students.”
However, Daily Wire journalist and author Megan Basham criticized Livingstone’s statement on X.
While Basham welcomed the news about the grant, she said the president’s remarks did nothing to “address faculty that are openly promoting LGBTQ affirmation in opposition to a Christian worldview.
“Baylor staff is openly flaunting their rebellion to God‘s Word and she has allowed this,” she wrote. Basham has written extensively about how progressive views are seeping into evangelical churches.
Basham also pointed out that Livingstone served as a board member of the NCAA when the student athletics organization was allowing male athletes who identify as women to compete in women’s sports.
At least one Baylor faculty member openly defended the grant online: English Professor Greg Garrett, the Christian Post reports.
“When the far right media comes for me, my colleagues, or @Baylor? I can only say: I serve the Jesus who said ‘If you’ve loved the least of these, you’ve loved me.’ Grateful for this grant that will help us love better,” he wrote Monday on X, linking to a Christian Post report.
Later on Instagram, Garrett wrote that conservative journalists “attacked my faith, questioned my vocation, smeared my character, and called for Baylor to fire me,” according to the report.
MORE: ‘Faithful Christians’ can support gay marriage, evangelical seminary leaders say
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Baylor University President Linda Livingstone addresses a controversial grant in a statement; Baylor University