Free Speech Rights of the EEO Anti-Gay Rights University Officer

So what do you do when the equal employment opportunity face of your university writes an anti-gay diatribe in the local press.  At least, you can't say, per Garcetti, that it is pursuant to her official duties!

Here's the story from Inside Higher Ed today:

But at the University of Toledo, a column in a local paper by Crystal Dixon, the associate vice president of human resources, has set off such a debate and resulted in her being placed on a paid leave, pending possible further action.

In the column in The Toledo Free Press, Dixon asserted that gay people can change their sexual orientation and questioned how gay people could ever be considered “civil rights victims.”

Wrote Dixon: “As a Black woman who happens to be an alumnus of the University of Toledo’s Graduate School, an employee and business owner, I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are ‘civil rights victims.’ Here’s why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a Black woman. I am genetically and biologically a Black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended. Daily, thousands of homosexuals make a life decision to leave the gay lifestyle....”

But wait, there's more:

Dixon also cited as evidence for her position “irrefutable” data showing higher than average salaries of gay people, and she cited religious teachings. “There is a divine order. God created human kind male and female (Genesis 1:27). God created humans with an inalienable right to choose. There are consequences for each of our choices, including those who violate God’s divine order. It is base human nature to revolt and become indignant when the world or even God Himself, disagrees with our choice that violates His divine order,” she wrote. “Jesus Christ loves the sinner but hates the sin (John 8:1-11.) Daily, Jesus Christ is radically transforming the lives of both straight and gay folks and bringing them into a life of wholeness: spiritually, psychologically, physically and even economically. That is the ultimate right.”

OK, so what she says I totally disagree with, but does she have right to say it, and will I defend her right to say it a la Voltaire?

To me, it comes down not to an issue of whether this is a matter of public concern (I believe it is), but whether her conduct substantially disrupts not only her relationship with co-workers, but also her ability to be someone who can maintain credibility when a homosexual employee of the University comes to her with a complaint.

I am all for a robust reading of public employee free speech rights, but this speech and its connection to what this employee does for a living might just cross the line.

Hat Tip: Dennis Nolan

PS