Ruthie Robertson was an adjunct professor of political science at BYU-Idaho and is a lifelong member of the LDS church. However, after posting a pro-LGBT statement on her Facebook page and refusing to retract it, she was fired from her position at the private religious university.
According to Salt Lake City’s KUTV, Robertson posted on her personal Facebook page June 5th to recognize LGBT Pride Month. In part of her post, Robertson said:
“I will always and forever stand up for the equality of the LGBT community. Sexuality and gender are not binary, they are on a spectrum and that’s how we were made.”
Among other things, Robertson’s post also brought up her disagreement with the LDS church’s 2008 push for an amendment to California’s constitution, which would’ve prohibited same sex marriage in the state. Her post went on to question the Mormon Church’s policy of not allowing the children of gay couples to be baptized.
Mere hours after Robertson shared her post, she was reported to the administration at the Rexburg campus. Robertson, who is considered to be in good standing with her church, told school officials her Facebook is private and that she never brought up her personal beliefs in the classroom. After refusing to remove the statement from her social media account, she was fired.
BYU-Idaho did not publicly comment on the situation. Robertson was permitted by the university to complete her summer courses, which ended last week.
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