The homosexual community is rallying around a group of Wheaton College (Illinois) graduates who are offering support for any current students wanting to openly participate in deviant sexual behavior, in response to the Christian college's position of celibacy in singleness.
-- From "Wheaton College group offers support for LGBT" by Jenn Zimmerman, Chicago Tribune Reporter 5/3/11
OneWheaton seeks to offer "a safe space" for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community, said group spokeswoman Kristin Winn. The LGBTQ community, according to Winn, is not widely accepted on campus because of the school's official position against "homosexual behavior."
[In response], Wheaton College President Philip Ryken sent an internal email to all students, faculty and staff that cited passages in the Bible that condemned homosexual behavior.
Ryken also wrote, "We stand with LGBTQ persons before God as persons created in God's own image, and also as sinful persons in need of God's forgiveness and love."
Ryken added that the overall desire of OneWheaton to "affirm the full humanity and dignity of every human being, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity" is something the college agrees with.
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From "Wheaton College alumni group offers support for gay students" by Marco Santana, Daily Herald 5/4/11
Each year, Wheaton College sponsors a weeklong, theme-based lecture series at its three-times-a-week mandatory chapel service and this year chose the theme “Sexuality and Wholeness.”
OneWheaton members said they were spurred to action, in part, because of the school's inclusion in the series of a Wheaton College alumnus, Wesley Hill, who says he has chosen celibacy over homosexuality.
Group members say they wanted to let students know there were other options that could be just as rewarding.
OneWheaton spokeswoman Kristin Winn, a 2007 graduate, says she came out about six months after finishing school and moving to Los Angeles. “We want to show those students there is a community of love and support they will have,” she said.
"Our position is that the college is not intentionally trying to be malicious," she said. "They believe this is a way of loving homosexual students. I applaud them for talking about it." But she said the speaker series left out the possibility that their sexuality is not a sin and that they can still lead vibrant lives while "remaining true to who they are."
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From "Wheaton College Alumni Rally Around Gay Students" by Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service (posted at Huffington Post) 5/4/11
"The recent chapel message on Sexuality and Wholeness and surrounding conversations may have left you feeling alienated, ashamed and afraid," reads the open letter [to students from OneWheaton]. "Many of us felt trapped and unable to respond honestly to these messages while we were students."
In an emailed response to the letter, Wheaton President Philip Ryken told students that the school considers gay people members "of the human family as created in the image of God himself," but remains committed to its covenant that condemns homosexual behavior.
"Many have experienced insensitive or callous responses in this community, for which we repent and seek forgiveness," he wrote, adding the school condemns violence and injustice toward gays.
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From "Wheaton LGBTQ organization forms" by Lisa Klein, Windy City Times 5/4/11
. . . gay alum Wesley Hill April 1. Hill spoke to students about his struggle with his sexuality, telling them that he has chosen lifelong celibacy because being gay is "not something to be affirmed and celebrated, but a sign that we're broken."
OneWheaton, formed this year as a support group for LGBTQ students and alumni of Wheaton College (but not sanctioned by the school), distributed its response letter on campus and posted it on its website.
[Kristin] Winn recalled her days at Wheaton, saying the chapel messages she remembered made her and other LGBTQ students feel like something was wrong with them, "like you have a dark future ahead."
The group originally formed around the idea of LGBTQ alumni making a video for sex columnist Dan Savage's It Gets Better project, but ended up as a support group for both alumni and students of the school.
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Also read Leftist Teaching at Wheaton College, Illinois as well as Wheaton College Features Pro-Homosexual Speaker
