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Oklahoma student speaks out about being expelled from Christian college after same-sex wedding


Kadyn Parks, longtime girlfriend of Christian Minard (r)

By DYLAN GOFORTH
Tulsa World Staff Writer

Christian Minard and her longtime girlfriend, Kadyn Parks, were driving through
New Mexico in March, exploring some of the state�s scenery when they settled
on a courthouse in Albuquerque for their marriage.

Minard, 22, a student at Southwestern Christian University in Bethany, said she
and Parks had dated for more than three years before they decided to wed.
Unable to get married in Oklahoma because of the state�s same-sex marriage
ban, they had settled on New Mexico.

Four months later, the couple found themselves thrust into the same-sex
marriage debate raging in Oklahoma and across the nation.

Minard said she and Parks had a small ceremony celebrating their marriage in
June for their friends and family. Following that, they took off for a honeymoon
in Las Vegas.

When they returned, Minard, who was one semester away from graduation,
discovered her parents had received a letter from SCU addressed to her, telling
her she was no longer welcome at the school.

Lifestyle covenant

Minard came to SCU from Redlands Community College in El Reno after a friend
convinced her to join her on the school�s basketball team.

SCU is affiliated with the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. Minard,
who grew up in a Lutheran church, was faced with a tough decision. To attend
the school, she had to sign the university�s �Lifestyle Covenant,� a document
that forbids �homosexual behavior,� as well as tobacco, alcohol and drug use,
profanity, sexual misconduct, pornography and �any other violation deemed
inappropriate by SCU.�

�Basketball is something I love,� Minard said. �When they offered me a
scholarship, it was a tough decision, because they were going to pay for my
school. It would have been tough to say no to that. I struggled with what to do,
and in the end the desire to play basketball again was stronger.�

The university, bound by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, can�t
speak directly about Minard�s case, but Connie Sjoberg, the school�s provost,
issued a brief statement.

�Making the choice to attend SCU means that students have a responsibility to
our guiding principles and choose to abide by our SCU Lifestyle Covenant,�
said Sjoberg, a former associate professor of psychology at Oral Roberts
University. �The core principals of the SCU Lifestyle Covenant include: spiritual,
intellectual, communal, physical, and behavioral.�

Separate lives

SCU is a private institution, and therefore has the right to bar a student from
attending for whatever reason it sees fit, a fact Minard accepts.

What bothers her, she said, is the sudden nature of the dismissal over the �open
secret� of her sexual orientation and the �uneven� nature of the enforcement of
the school�s rules.

�There have been pictures of my wife and I together on Facebook forever.
People were aware of my sexual orientation,� Minard said. �There have been
other girls on the basketball team that are lesbians. Our coach would even
acknowledge when their girlfriends were in the stands.

�I know (the school) didn�t want my relationship in their face, so I kept my
school life my school life and my home life my home life. But as soon as one
picture of our vow-exchanging ceremony was posted, that was apparently too
much.�

She believes it was the wedding picture that led to her expulsion, which
troubles her. The lifestyle covenant she signed also forbids alcohol and
tobacco use, but she said pictures of students drinking and smoking are
routinely posted on Facebook with no repercussions.

Minard said she�s not fighting to regain admission to the school. Although she
was one semester shy of graduation, a number of classes she took at SCU were
based on required religious studies, and they likely won�t transfer to a public
institution, she said.

She believes she will need two or more semesters to graduate at another
university.

�What I�ve found out this week is that by telling my story, I�ve been able to help
other people,� she said. �I�ve had so many people message me and say, �I go to
a small Christian college, and I�m gay, too.� They say they never realized that
there were so many people in the same situation they are in.

�I believe in God. I�ve always had a very strong faith and I still do. But being gay
in a Christian college makes you feel unwelcome and unwanted.

�It�s been incredible to hear from all these people who have said my story has
helped them in some way,� Minard said.

WAAAAHHHHHH, silly dykes, dicks are for chicks.

Interesting how a hero can be made out of a confessed liar.

The article said:

"What bothers her, she said, is the sudden nature of the dismissal over the �open secret� of her sexual orientation and the �uneven� nature of the enforcement of the school�s rules."



I believe "what bothers her" is knowing, before hand, that a lesbian marriage was ABSOLUTELY against the religiously-affiliated school's rules... and yet, she went ahead and did it anyway... and now, she's crying "FOUL" because she felt she could get away with doing it... and now, she finds out she can't !~!~!

When are some people gonna figure out that they MUST take the responsibility for their own acts and actions?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Our society is turning into a bunch of cry-babies who flaunt and/or ignore the laws and rules, then complain when they get caught doing it.

There's an old saying that went: "If ya's do-the-crime, you'll do-the-time" !!! That seems to apply here, eh?!?

So this person just HAD to get married shortly BEFORE her graduation from a religiously-affiliated college and KNEW her relationship with her "bride" was a "NO-NO" with the college, so why didn't she WAIT a few months or so... graduate, and THEN get married?!?

THAT is the REAL question !~!~!

I don't feel a bit sorry for this young woman. She KNEW the rules, she broke 'em... and now, it's time to pay-the-bill.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

Good for the school!

She says the school knew about her before. I suspect the ones who knew were the basketball coaches who remained silent because she can play. Win at all costs.

Regardless of how someone feels about the gay marriage debate, this is what it all really boils down to in this case. She got caught breaking rules

I'm afraid SCU will be having a full compliment of legal troubles in the very near future. Oh and the lawsuit will soon follow.
Elections matter.

where is the surprise? Lesbian marriage? Christian college? Come on folks, the dyke knew the rules when she went in.
Heck, I was kicked out of a little religious college back in 1965, for not following the rules. Never thought to bitch about it though.

If you don't like the rules, don't sign the agreement to abide by them. Her signature's on the paper.

Good for the school.

P.S. Its NOT "Marriage" They need to come up with a term for their unions but the word "marriage" is already taken. Perhaps they can call it "Redskins".

GOOD +!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeez, sam. I didn't know you was a lesbian, too.

Here is the pic.

the complainant on the right.

The fat one in the middle is pretty hot......

Now that I've seen the pic I say the school is at fault. No way they looked at THAT and don't absolutely know she's homo.

If the college requires that students be Christians, it seems perfectly appropriate to kick them out for this. Not that Christians can't be sinners, but they can't advocate sin as if it were virtue, which is what these two were doing. That would disqualify them from any legitimate claim of being Christian. Might as well say you're a Christian, but deny that Jesus is Lord.

The girl on the left isn't a lesbian, since she's clearly attracted to masculinity. She's messed up in the head, but not a lesbian.

If she thought for a minute, going to a Christian college was going to fly....

Well she is dumber than she looks.

But for us it doesn't really matter, we are all sinners. There are things out of our control, we don't have to agree, but they are what they are and we are all sinners which makes us the same on all levels.

There's lot of legal standing behind the school. For example, some years ago, Oral Roberts Univ. had a similar policy about obesity (the Bible calls gluttony a sin). Overweight students had to sign a pledge to lose X pounds within a given period of time or face expulsion. One student who failed to lose weight was kicked out. He sued but lost in court because he had failed to keep his end of the bargain.