University admissions officer calls traditional natural marriage supporters ‘pieces of trash’
George Mason University (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
If you believe in traditional, natural marriage, then
you are “piece of useless trash” in the opinion of an assistant admissions
officer at George Mason University, a Virginia public school just 15 miles from
the nation’s capital.
The National Organization for Marriage wants GMU to
disavow Andrew Bunting’s comments so as not to give prospective applicants with
conservative, Christian, heterosexual values the idea they aren’t welcome. “We
want the university to publicly repudiate the remarks,” NOM’s Joseph Grabowski said. “Right now, the clear implication of the comments, when they
come from the admissions officer, is that they won’t be welcome if they hold
conservative views on marriage.”
Bunting, an assistant admission officer at the
university, was responding to NOM’s triumphant blog posted the day after the
federal election, which “heartily” congratulated Donald Trump and his team on
their “incredible win.” In the blog, NOM announced that it was committed to
working with the president-elect and “confident that our voice and our
views will be important in a Trump administration.”
This was followed with NOM’s action plan for the next
four years — one likely favored by millions of Trump voters. It starts with
getting conservatives appointed to the Supreme Court because “such justices
will inevitably reverse the anti-constitutional ruling of the Supreme Court
imposing same-sex “marriage” on the nation in the Obergefell decision, because
that decision lacked any basis in the Constitution.”
Second, get outgoing President Barack Obama’s string
of “illegal, overreaching executive orders” rescinded, including his “dangerous
gender identity directives.” Third, reverse the Obama administration’s foreign
policy of withholding foreign aid from countries that won’t accede to the “LGBT
agenda.” And fourth, get the First Amendment Defense Act passed “to protect
people who believe in marriage from being targeted by the government for
persecution.”
According to Grabowski, NOM has “hundreds of thousands
of email subscribers” who received the outline of the plan the day after the
election. He speculated that, because of the result, “people may a little
braver about sharing their views than they were the day before the election.”
Someone passed on NOM’s plan to Bunting.
He evidently saw red: “NOM, a recognized HATE group by
the Southern Poverty Law Center … seeks to limit life. Limit liberty. Limit
Freedom. Limit the pursuit of happiness for millions of American[sic]. If you
agree with them then that is your opinion. Just know that to the rest of us you
are a piece of useless trash.”
GMU president Angel Cabrera responded to the election
with a statement of inclusion without referencing Bunting’s comments.
“Let me be clear,” Cabrera said. “If you are Muslim or
Jewish or Christian, you belong at Mason. If you grew up in Mexico City,
Islamabad, or Roanoke, you belong at Mason. If you are part of the LGBT
community, you belong at Mason. If you are Black or Brown or White, you belong
at Mason. If you voted for Clinton or for Trump or anyone else, you belong at
Mason.”
Grabowski responded, “We are used to seeing a double
standard from advocates for diversity. Tolerance is OK as long as it doesn’t
apply to conservatives. It is almost Orwellian doubletalk.”
Asked about various comments from Trump about illegal
immigration, Grabowski told LifeSiteNews that the “NOM wanted to keep the
discussion focused on issues related to the public good and away from
inflammatory comments from anyone.”
GMU issued the following response. “Mr.
Bunting’s comments on his personal social media page reflect his own personal
views. The university does not agree with his comments, and they do not reflect
the views of the university.”