By Aaron Earls
Speaking at Harvard, spoken-word artist Jackie Hill Perry encountered protests from LGBT groups. And after her speech, she says campus and national media misquoted her in their stories.
Harvard College Faith and Action, a Christian student organization on the Ivy League campus, invited Hill Perry to speak at its weekly worship gathering because of her “compelling story.”
In her upcoming book Gay Girl, Good God, Hill Perry shares her testimony of leaving behind a lesbian lifestyle after her Christian conversion.
Her speech drew media attention from The Harvard Crimson and national outlets including Newsweek.
Hill Perry said, however, the Newsweek story made factual errors such as reporting she had a son instead of a daughter.
She also maintains Newsweek, drawing from the Crimson story, misrepresented her comments about homosexuality.
She tweeted, “Secondly, you have a misquote. You said: ‘The model for how we are to deny ourselves, whether that applies to our greed, to our lust, self-denial is not optional for the Christian.’ I said: ‘JESUS CHRIST is the model for how we are to deny ourselves.…’”
She challenged them to contact her directly if they write about her in the future.
Hey @newsweek, I really would’ve appreciated some due diligence in making sure this article was 100% accurate.
A quick look on my Instagram would’ve shown that I don’t have a son named Eden but a daughter. https://t.co/KpelzFnuIA
— Jackie Hill Perry (@JackieHillPerry) February 21, 2018
Harvard College Faith and Action is under additional trouble on campus related to sexuality.
The university has placed the group under “administrative probation” for allegedly pressuring a Bible study leader engaged in a same-sex relationship for her resignation.
School spokesperson Aaron Goldman said the group “conducted itself in a manner grossly inconsistent with the expectations outlined in [the school’s policy guide]” that prohibits recognized campus student groups from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.
HCFA co-presidents Scott Ely and Molly Richmond deny they discriminated against the student.
They told the Crimson in a statement that the Bible study leader was removed because of an irreconcilable disagreement pertaining to character standards.
“Our theological view is that — for professing Christians who are in leadership —celibacy is the only option outside the bounds of marriage,” Ely and Richmond wrote.
“We have applied and do apply this policy regardless of sexual orientation.”
The leaders say school administrators told them this is the first instance of a campus group being placed on administrative probation.
The Crimson noted that only recognized groups can reserve Harvard rooms, hang posters on campus, and participate in activity fairs designed to recruit new members.
Founded in 2008, the HCFA has roughly 200 members.
Related:
- When Sex and Religion Conflict, What Should Win?
- Evangelicals Oppose Same-Sex Marriage, But Most Americans Don’t
- Americans Increasingly Support Same-Sex Marriage Amid Confusion
- Amid Growing Support, LGBT Americans Remain Unmarried
AARON EARLS (@WardrobeDoor) is online editor of Facts & Trends.
