Salem Mayor Cuts Ties with College Discriminating towards Gays
SALEM — Citing Gordon College’s “blatantly” discriminatory policy toward gays and lesbians, Mayor Kim Driscoll yesterday terminated the school’s contract to manage the city-owned Old Town Hall.
In a letter to Gordon President Michael Lindsay, Driscoll said the college’s policies forbidding homosexual practice “fly in the face” of the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance, which prohibits the city from contracting with organizations that have discriminatory practices.
“While I respect your right to embed religious values on a private college campus, religious freedom does not afford you the right to impose those beliefs upon others and cannot be extended into a publicly owned facility or any management contract for a public owned facility, like Old Town Hall,” Driscoll wrote.
Driscoll said she made the decision after Lindsay signed on to a July 1 letter urging President Obama to include a religious exemption in an executive order that would ban organizations from receiving federal contracts if they discriminate against gays and lesbians in their hiring practices.
Driscoll said she was “truly disappointed” in Lindsay’s position and the college’s policies regarding sexual orientation.
“I hope you realize how hurtful and offensive these ‘behavioral standards’ are to members of the greater Salem LGBT community, some of whom are Gordon alumni, staff and/or students,” she wrote.
The city has partnered with Gordon College since 2008 in running Old Town Hall, where the production of “Cry Innocent” and The Salem Museum are based. The city had planned to take over management of Old Town Hall at the end of August, but Driscoll said she is now terminating the contract with Gordon College effective Tuesday.
Driscoll said she expects “Cry Innocent,” which has been performed in Salem since 1992, to continue without interruption. She said both History Alive!, which stages “Cry Innocent,” and the Gordon Institute for Public History, which runs The Salem Museum, can continue to operate if they sign a nondiscrimination agreement with the city.
The organizations are affiliated with Gordon College but don’t share its attitudes on sexual orientation, Driscoll said.
“I don’t think any of those folks agree with any sort of discriminatory conduct,” she said. “If we can sort that through, we’d be happy to maintain our relations with them.”
Kristina Wacome-Stevick, artistic director of History Alive!, said the organization would “absolutely” sign a nondiscrimination agreement.
“I don’t expect the show to go away,” she said. “We’ve been working on becoming our own organization anyway, and this accelerates things a bit. I’m not getting the message that the city wants ‘Cry Innocent’ out. I’m getting the message that this is much more about President Lindsay’s letter.”
The current cast of “Cry Innocent” includes four Gordon College students, two alumni and about 10 actors from other colleges, Wacome-Stevick said. She said the company is “intentionally inclusive” and does not require the same code of conduct imposed by Gordon College.
“I was beside myself when I read the letter (signed by Lindsay),” she said. “I don’t feel it reflects the spirit of our company at all. We’re a very diverse gang, and I am really proud of that.”
The fallout from Lindsay’s letter has been felt by “Cry Innocent,” said Carl Schultz, one of the actors. He said some people have refused to buy tickets because of the controversy. On Monday, a person walking past the performance shouted, “Too bad Gordon hates gays,” he said.
“The ‘Cry Innocent’ staff is very upset,” said Schultz, who graduated from Gordon in 2013. “I don’t agree with (Lindsay’s letter) personally, and I would say most, if not all, the people in the cast feel the same way. I really hope that we’re able to continue doing this. We have a good relationship with the community.
Gordon College has long had policies prohibiting homosexual conduct, but Driscoll said Lindsay’s decision to sign on to the letter to President Obama “brought the full circumstances” forward regarding the college’s official stance toward sexual orientation and gender identity.
In an interview, Driscoll acknowledged that she was “surprised” by the college’s policy, which says homosexual practice is “expressly forbidden” in Scripture and “will not be tolerated in the lives of Gordon community members, either on or off campus.”
“It’s blatantly discriminatory, and it’s very concerning,” Driscoll said. “We’ve had a long relationship with Gordon, and it pains me to see it end this way. But in the same vein, we couldn’t let something stand that’s not only in conflict with our nondiscriminatory polices but is offensive to members of our community.”
Driscoll said she called Lindsay Monday night to inform him of her decision. Lindsay told her he would send her the statement that was eventually posted on the college’s website explaining his decision to sign the letter.
Gordon College spokesman Rick Sweeney said Driscoll’s decision to terminate the contract was “not a surprise” because the city was set to take over management of Old Town Hall anyway at the end of August.
“I certainly understand, given everything that’s been going on in the last few days, why she feels she needs to take that type of action sooner rather than later,” Sweeney said. “I’m sorry it’s come about that way, but I certainly understand what she’s trying to do.”
Sweeney said the college is not considering making any changes to its policy regarding sexual orientation, which he said is part of the “foundational documents” of the college. He said any policy change would be handled by the college’s board of trustees.
Gordon College also ran the city-owned Pioneer Village from 2008 until last year, when the college decided to end its management agreement in order to concentrate its resources on Old Town Hall.
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