"I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are 'civil rights victims,'" Dixon wrote in the Toledo Free Press. Despite losing her job, enduring emotional stress and filing a lawsuit for writing a controversial letter about gay rights to Toledo Free Press, Crystal Dixon said if she had the chance to go back, she would do it again.
In April, Dixon, former University of Toledo associate vice president of Human Resources, wrote a letter to Toledo Free Press Editor In Chief Michael S. Miller about her position on gay rights in response to Miller’s column on the topic. “I believe that the viewpoint on that topic was very one-sided and that is why I submitted the letter,” Dixon said.
She said she believed that as a Christian she had the “divine right” to express her views. Dixon’s letter was published on the Toledo Free Press Web site April 9. Dixon was placed on paid administrative leave May 2, and sent a letter of termination May 8.
In her letter, Dixon wrote: “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.”
Dixon said she has received many e-mails about her letter and her termination. Some have been in support of her views on homosexuality, while others have accused her of being intolerant. Many also have written about her right to free speech, including a few homosexuals, who told her that they did not agree with her views but believed that she had the right to express them. Dixon is suing the university, UT President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs and Vice President for Human Resources and Campus Safety William Logie, for violating her First and 14th amendment rights, said Thomas Sobecki, who is representing Dixon, along with the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC).
“She was fired because she gave an opinion the university perceived as contrary to what they believed in,” Sobecki said. She wrote the letter as a private citizen and did not identify herself with the university, Dixon said.
