Seattle Pacific Staffer Comes Out Amid Lawsuit Over Anti-LGBTQ+ Bias
A Seattle Pacific University staffer has come out to her colleagues as a lesbian at a time when the conservative Christian school is facing legal action over its anti-LGBTQ+ policies.“My name is Kristi Holt and I am a lesbian,” Holt, a chemistry lab coordinator and adjunct instructor, wrote in a recent email to faculty and staff, The Seattle Times reports.The university has been the site of protests for several months, and Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is investigating its hiring practices.
Seattle Pacific is affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, a conservative denomination that is separate from the United Methodist Church.
The university will not employ people who are in same-sex marriages and expects employees to adhere to its policy that sex is reserved exclusively for the marriage of a man and a woman.
The university affirmed that policy in May, and officials have said it would lose its affiliation with the Free Methodist Church if it rescinded the policy — which is something faculty members have recommended.Seattle Pacific sued Ferguson in July, contending that his investigation is a violation of religious freedom.
