Following outrage by far-right Christian conservatives, Baylor University in Texas has returned a sizable grant for the study of women and LGBTQ+ Christians, intended, in Baylor’s words, “to foster inclusion and belonging in the church.” 

“Through academic research, this grant will help us better understand the disenfranchisement and exclusion of LGBTQIA+ individuals and women within congregations to nurture institutional courage and foster change,” the Baptist college said in a June 30 announcement, since removed from the university’s website.

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Baylor has a history of tolerance when it comes to its LGBTQ+ student body. In 2015, the school dropped specific references to homosexual acts from its sexual conduct policy that bans adultery, fornication, incest, sexual abuse, harassment, and assault.

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Last year, LGBTQ+ basketball player Brittney Griner was honored by Baylor, where she graduated in 2013, when they retired her No. 42 school jersey.

The about-face comes after online conservative activists excoriated Baylor for accepting the $643,000 grant, questioning why a Baptist college would take money they said contradicts the Bible’s teachings regarding sexuality, gender, and marriage.

One senior pastor at a conservative Anglican church described Baylor as “a wolf disguised as a shepherd” that Christians should avoid.

In a letter posted to the university’s website Wednesday, Baylor University President Linda Livingstone said returning the money, awarded by the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation, “is the appropriate course of action and in the best interests” of the school.

“We remain committed to providing a loving and caring community for all — including our LGBTQIA+ students — because it is part and parcel of our University’s mission that calls us to educate our students within a caring Christian community,” Livingstone’s letter said.

She added, “As we reviewed the details and process surrounding this grant, our concerns did not center on the research itself, but rather on the activities that followed as part of the grant. Specifically, the work extended into advocacy for perspectives on human sexuality that are inconsistent with Baylor’s institutional policies, including our Statement on Human Sexuality.”

Livingstone failed to address what that advocacy was.   

The university’s Statement on Human Sexuality says, in part: “The University affirms the biblical understanding of sexuality as a gift from God. Christian churches across the ages and around the world have affirmed purity in singleness and fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman as the biblical norm. Temptations to deviate from this norm include both heterosexual sex outside of marriage and homosexual behavior.”

The Texas-based Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation describes their mission as supporting “progressive, inclusive, nonprofit organizations that reflect the love of Christ,” with a focus on “faith-based post-secondary education,” “social justice and advocacy,” and “inclusivity initiatives.”

The returned grant isn’t the first directed to Baylor. In 2021, English professor Greg Garrett, the school’s Chair of Literature & Culture, who also teaches theology classes, was awarded a $488,000 grant to study racial mythology in politics and popular culture.

Online conservatives latched on to the “DEI” award and Garrett’s celebration of the new grant in their attacks on Baylor.

“Baylor has become a haven of false teachers like Garrett,” Megan Basham, a right-wing Christian author and Daily Wire contributor, posted to X.

Garrett made headlines in Christian media last year after he went viral on social media when he and his students in his 300-level Harry Potter course discussed J.K. Rowling’s transphobia.  

“We decided novelist Rowling, who wrote with compassion about diversity, equity, and inclusion, is worth our attention. Twitter Rowling? Shame on her,” Garrett posted at the time.

A Christian Post story took pains to note that Garrett’s pinned tweet on his X profile is in support of Black Lives Matter.

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