SAN JOSE, Calif., July 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A former San Jose City College biology professor is suing the college after she was fired for answering a student’s question on the relationship between homosexuality and heredity.
On June 21, 2007, June Sheldon, an adjunct professor teaching a human heredity course, answered a question about how heredity affects homosexual behavior by citing the class textbook and a well-known German scientist. She noted that the scientist found a correlation between maternal stress and homosexual behavior in males but that the scientist’s views are only one set of theories in the nature-versus-nurture debate mentioned by the textbook. Sheldon then explained that the class would learn in a later chapter of the textbook that homosexual behavior may be influenced by both genes and the environment.
The school launched an investigation after a different student in the class lodged an informal complaint that deemed Sheldon’s comments "offensive and unscientific." Sheldon was later recommended for removal from the adjunct seniority rehire preference list and terminated by the district’s board of trustees on Feb. 13, 2008.
The Alliance Defense Fund, a public-interest law firm, has filed the lawsuit on Sheldon’s behalf.
"Teachers shouldn’t be punished for doing their job as educators. They know that students can’t be expected to make good, well-informed decisions if they’re only hearing part of the story," said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel David Hacker. "College officials have stripped a professor of the right to discuss competing theories and ideas in the classroom, something which represents the foundation of higher education."
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