Earlier this year, the Family Research Council’s Jerry Boykin spoke at Liberty Counsel’s “The Awakening” conference in Florida where he railed against efforts to protect transgender individuals by allowing them to use the facilities that match the gender with which they identify.
“I’ve already said, and somebody’ll be recording this and this’ll be on YouTube before it’s all over with, “Boykin said. “But I will tell you what, the first man that walks in my daughter’s bathroom, he ain’t going to have to worry about surgery. That’s not right. That is not right. It’s not right. It’s ungodly. But it’s also just unnatural. This is crazy. Where are the Christians that are standing up?”
We posted audio of his remarks back in March and yesterday Boykin posted a message on his Facebook page announcing that he had been terminated from a teaching position he held at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia because of the remarks.
Boykin insists that he was not threatening violence against transgender people, despite his clear reference to sex reassignment surgery, and that his comments were “understood as humor”:
Because some of you already know and are contacting me about it, let me make it official and let you all know that I have been terminated from teaching at Hampden-Sydney College after nine years there. Hampden Sydney is the 10th oldest college in America and is one of the two Men’s colleges left in #America. Let me begin by saying that it is a fine school with some very good young men who give me hope for the future. There are also a few very good faculty members who I consider to be good friends and true patriots. They stood with me through this whole situation as the school made the decision to terminate me and I appreciate everything that these friends at the school did to try and help.
The bottom line is that I oppose these so called “#Bathroom” bills that let men go into women’s locker rooms, showers, and toilets and I have been very public about it. When I said in Orlando that “…the first man who goes in the restroom with my daughter will not have to worry about surgery”, the LGBT community once again came after me, claiming that I was calling for violence against #transgender people.
Well, that is simply not the case and I have never called for violence against anyone. I was referring to perverts who will use these policies to get into locker rooms with girls and women, and I object to that. My statement was meant to be humor and not a call for violence, which everyone in my audience understood as humor.
Nonetheless, I gave the LGBT community just what they needed to pressure the college leadership to terminate me and they did.
Predictably, Ted Cruz, who made attacking transgender protections a part of his failed presidential campaign, has come rushing to Boykin’s defense and is using this incident as an opportunity to raise funds for his own Senate re-election campaign.
Boykin was a prominent endorser of Cruz’s campaign and served as a national security adviser.
Cruz dismissed Boykin’s comment’s as “levity,” while lamenting that it has now become “a firing offense.”
General Jerry Boykin is an American hero. He was one of the original members of the U.S. Army’s Delta Force. A decorated warrior, he commanded Delta Force and he commanded all the Army’s Green Berets as well as the Special Warfare Center and School.
Hampden-Sydney College has fired General Boykin. At a time where young people are desperately seeking hope and inspiration, you would think General Boykin (who had taught there nine years) would be one of their most valued faculty. But instead, he fell victim to the PC police.
Referring to President Obama’s push to allow grown men into girls’ bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms, General Boykin joked, “…the first man who goes in the restroom with my daughter will not have to worry about surgery.” That levity, in today’s precious academic world, was a firing offense.
Three observations: first, our universities are losing their souls. College should be about learning, and that requires a diversity of views. When I was a student in the 1980s and 90s, surrounded by college and law school faculty members who were militant leftists and even Marxists, I didn’t curl up in a ball and plead for a “safe place.” Confronting opposing views helped me learn what I myself believe, and helped me understand better how to persuade others. That’s the essence of education. Raising coddled, solipsistic children who cannot handle dissent represents a complete failure and abdication of the university mission.
Second, free speech matters. If you disagree with someone, disagree with them. Don’t silence or punish them. Censorship is the refuge of the weak-minded (those who cannot defend their views) or the tyrannical (those who simply want to force submission and compliance). If you think it’s a good idea for men and boys to be taking showers with little girls — whether you’re the President, a presidential candidate, or a university apparatchik — tell us why. Make the case, with reason and logic, don’t just respond as jack-booted thugs.
Third, young people need heroes like General Boykin. Ironically, Hampden-Sydney’s motto is Huc venite iuvenes ut exeatis viri, which translates to: Come here as boys so you may leave as men. This storied institution, founded the year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, has decided that warriors and heroes are no longer welcome on its faculty. If you love our country, this should bother you greatly.
Update 5/20: Today, Boykin announced that he has been re-hired by Hampden-Sydney College:
I am deeply grateful for all the support – through social media, calls and emails – that I have received over the past few days. This situation has been a great reminder of how our #FirstAmendment principles are worth standing up for and defending.
I am pleased to announce that I have been rehired as the Wheat Professor at Hampden-Sydney College. I look forward to returning to Hampden-Sydney in the fall to continue my work equipping the next generation of young men to lead this nation. Hampden-Sydney College is a fine school with a proud history of young men who have led our country, and I am honored to be a part of shaping the next generation of leaders.
With that said, I would like to share some thoughts on this experience.
First, there is strength in unified numbers. The radical Left and LGBT activists completely underestimate the impact of #freedom-loving #Americans banding together to protect our First Amendment freedoms. Many people spoke out on my behalf and I am eternally grateful that they stood with me. Their unified voices allowed me to return to Hampden-Sydney.
Second, never cave in when you know that you are standing for what is right and true, for these are the principles that made this nation great. STAND, even if it means you lose your job. STAND, even if it means you lose your life. The founding principles of this nation are worth defending, even if it costs you.
Third, my reinstatement is a victory for academic freedom and free thought on a college campus. The free exchange of conflicting ideas must be the bedrock of every college campus in America. This essential exchange has been greatly wounded by the PC police, but it can be restored to college campuses around the country if, in unity, freedom-loving Americans speak out. Bottom line: when you stand, freedom prevails.
Finally, I would like to thank the leadership of Hampden-Sydney College for the courage they have demonstrated in reversing their decision and allowing me to remain a part of the Hampden-Sydney community.
