- cross-posted to:
- usa@lemmy.ml
- usa@midwest.social
- cross-posted to:
- usa@lemmy.ml
- usa@midwest.social
An instructor at the University of Oklahoma has been placed on leave after a student complained that she received a failing grade on a paper that cited the Bible to assert that the “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.”
Samantha Fulnecky, 20, filed a complaint with the administration, the latest flashpoint in the ongoing debate over academic freedom on college campuses amid Donald Trump’s push to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and restrict how campuses discuss issues of race, gender and sexuality.
Fulnecky wrote that she was frustrated by the premise of the article because she doesn’t believe that there are more than two genders based on her understanding of the Bible, according to a copy of her essay provided to The Oklahoman.
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Oklahomastan
Ugh, what atrocious writing. She deserved a poor grade based on that alone.
I’ve been following this situation. This article leaves out a ton of relevant info. Here’s some more details in no particular order:
- The assignment had nothing to do with transgenderism. It was to read and discuss an academic paper about socially enforced gender norms (e.g., bullying the tomboy for not wearing makeup).
- The instructor is a grad student.
- The same day the student filed the complaint, a second grader (a professor I think) re-graded the paper and confirmed the original grade.
Someone I follow on another platform pointed out that this looks suspiciously like a setup to stoke outrage and media attention.
- Samantha Fulnecky is a junior and this is a freshman course.
- This section of the course is the only section taught by a transwoman.
- The assignment is not a meaningful part of the grade. Think of it as a weekly assignment, not a major paper or exam.
- Samantha’s mother is a lawyer and conservative activist known for representing two Jan 6ers and for fighting COVID-related mandates. She has been in national news before.
- Samantha & mother contacted media outlets the same day Samantha filed the complaint (the regrade happened that same day too).
The assignment had nothing to do with transgenderism. It
“transgenderism” isn’t a real word. It’s a propaganda word similar to “the homosexual lifestyle.”
This section of the course is the only section taught by a transwoman.
trans woman. Two words, short for transgender woman.
a second grader (a professor I think)
Wow, talk about a child prodigy…
I worded that poorly 😂.
“It was regraded by another instructor”
^^^ All this. Its just another scam
The assignment was for a psychology class about lifespan development. Students were asked to write a 650-word response to an academic study that examined whether conformity with gender norms was associated with popularity or bullying among middle school students.
The essays were graded out of 25 points, broken down by whether the student demonstrated an understanding of the article and addressed a specific aspect of the argument put forth. Fulnecky received zero points for her work.
"Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs,” the instructor wrote in feedback obtained by The Oklahoman. Instead, the instructor said the paper did “not answer the questions for the assignment.”
I’ve been following this situation. This article leaves out a ton of relevant info. Here’s some more details in no particular order:
- The assignment had nothing to do with transgenderism. It was to read and discuss an academic paper about socially enforced gender norms (e.g., bullying the tomboy for not wearing makeup).
- The instructor is a grad student.
- The same day the student filed the complaint, a second grader (a professor I think) re-graded the paper and confirmed the original grade.
Someone I follow on another platform pointed out that this looks suspiciously like a setup to stoke outrage and media attention.
- Samantha Fulnecky is a junior and this is a freshman course.
- This section of the course is the only section taught by a transwoman.
- The assignment is not a meaningful part of the grade. Think of it as a weekly assignment, not a major paper or exam.
- Samantha’s mother is a lawyer and conservative activist known for representing two Jan 6ers and for fighting COVID-related mandates. She has been in national news before.
- Samantha & mother contacted media outlets the same day Samantha filed the complaint (the regrade happened that same day too).
Edit: sorry, didn’t mean to reply to the previous comment. This was meant to be a top-level comment. I’ve reposted
Samantha’s mother is a lawyer and conservative activist known for representing two Jan 6ers and for fighting COVID-related mandates. She has been in national news before.
Yeah, your evidence is pretty convincing. It may not have been an explicit setup, but it sure feels like it. If nothing else, it’s the perfect storm of factors that would lead it to be a supreme court case in the stew pot simmering away.
You’re abusing the word “may” here to a degree that’s unnecessary.
It’s like saying the US civil war “may” have been about slavery, or that Trump “may” be really old.
Definitely sounds like a media play based in lies. Too bad about this god awful AP headline
Someone I follow on another platform pointed out that this looks suspiciously like a setup to stoke outrage and media attention.
Every time this kind of thing makes the news, this is a safe assumption to operate under until you get more details. Time and time again, this is what’s going on.
Almost like there is a pattern or something.
There are reasons they are #50 in education.
Worth noting that these things are usually (and this one is) out of 51, including D.C. New Mexico appears to be #51 on the 2025 WalletHub list that is being referenced lately that put Oklahoma at #50.
It’s funny that even /r/Conservative over at Reddit think the essay was some dumb bullshit
The reason, Oklahoma. Nothing more, nothing less.
Samantha might have won this fight, but I guarantee any employee who ends up looking up this name is immediately going to throw her application in the paper. Unless she ends up working for Prager-U or some bullshit like that
Like who in their right mind would want to work with someone like that?
Edit: of course it’s an orchestrated stunt specifically to target a trans teacher. God damn it just fucking kill me already.
This was all likely a stunt. Apparently her mother is a well-known propagandist and blogger.
Not just that, but a lawyer known for representing J6 insurrectionists. This is a stunt to create a supreme court case and otherwise damage civil society.
Also, this section (and only this section) of the course was being taught by a an openly trans instructor. It’s a conduit for conservatives to fuel more anti-trans and “war on religion” propaganda.
“Look, the radical trans agenda is trying to erase the bible! War on Christians! They’re coming for your religion! You’ll be in a prison camp for your beliefs soon!”
If there is one thing Christians enjoy, it’s pretending to be persecuted while persecuting others.
These Christian nationalist fucking Nazis need to be dealt with.
STOP ABIDING NAZIS!
After reading her paper I counted only 3 sentences that seem to directly address the article it’s supposed to be a response to. And those sentences are fluffy filler like stating the article was “thought provoking.” The rest of the 2 pages is a full on religion paper. There was easily a way to get her point across about disagreeing with the premise while still actually addressing what the article stated.
I’m not claiming to be some amazing writer but that reads like something I would have thrown together in high school when I procrastinated and only had 10 minutes before the assignment was due. Just yikes. I feel dumber for having read that.
That’s not a religion paper. Those actually cite the numbered verses or church decrees that support their position.
(And, just to be clear, you can’t cite any Bible verses about Jesus being transphobic because He wasn’t. All the gospels report Him saying are “don’t stone adulterers”, “divorce and emotional cheating are bad”, and “love each other as you love yourselves”.)
Your completely right. Calling it that is a disservice to actual religion papers. The writing is nothing more than christian fundamentalist word vomit, seasoned with karen-style rage bait. Lol
And, just to be clear, you can’t cite any Bible verses about Jesus being transphobic because He wasn’t. All the gospels report Him saying are “don’t stone adulterers”, “divorce and emotional cheating are bad”, and “love each other as you love yourselves”.
I’m not convinced. What do you make of Deuteronomy 22 and 23? They seem pretty explicitly transphobic to me. Granted, these aren’t the direct words of Jesus, and I understand that Jesus “rejected” some of the old testament teachings to some extent… which sounds like a load of BS to me considering the Trinity doctrine. Jesus doesn’t need to explicitly condemn trans people when he propagates a tradition that does it for him.
Jesus literally contradicted those passages, both in His most famous teaching (Matthew 22:34-40) and in the “why we can eat bacon cheeseburgers” post-resurrection vision in Acts 10.
The most straightforward reconciliation of this is to posit that the pre-Christian israelites either did not preserve God’s law as recorded by Moses after breaking the original tablets, or that Moses himself introduced errors when he carved the second set.
Most Jews and Christians don’t require their cloaks to have tassels or religiously mandate fields of monoculture crops or demand that men and women have entirely separate fashion. And even if you did, the most common form of trans-gender expression is to adopt the clothes of said gender, so mere transgenderism doesn’t violate Deuteronomy 22:5 (or 23:2, which is either abelsim or ethnic bigotry and doesn’t even apply to bottom-surgery transexuals.)
(It’s between you and God if you believe in Him or not, FWIW. Im happy to answer any other questions you’d like to ask.)
Jesus literally contradicted those passages, both in His most famous teaching (Matthew 22:34-40) and in the “why we can eat bacon cheeseburgers” post-resurrection vision in Acts 10.
I’m looking at the NIV translation of these verses and am entirely unconvinced. Saying some nice platitudes which are in no way specific to transphobia does nothing to undo the transphobic tradition that he is perpetuating.
The most straightforward reconciliation of this is to posit that the pre-Christian israelites either did not preserve God’s law as recorded by Moses after breaking the original tablets, or that Moses himself introduced errors when he carved the second set.
Strongly disagree again. The most straightforward reconciliation of this is to posit that Jesus as well as Moses were mere humans and none of this originates from God. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. If Jesus and/or the author’s of the Gospels had issues with the words transcribed from Moses, they should have addressed those specifically and advocated for trans people instead of staying silent and letting transphobism fester.
Most Jews and Christians don’t require their cloaks to have tassels or religiously mandate fields of monoculture crops or demand that men and women have entirely separate fashion. And even if you did, the most common form of trans-gender expression is to adopt the clothes of said gender, so mere transgenderism doesn’t violate Deuteronomy 22:5 (or 23:2, which is either abelsim or ethnic bigotry and doesn’t even apply to bottom-surgery transexuals.)
What modern religious people practice has little to do with what Jesus said, which is the subject of your original claim. Jesus’ words reified the transphobic tradition of the Old Testament, and without explicit acceptance of trans people and rejection of those original words, I see a very clear case that Jesus was (or at least perpetuated being) transphobic.
(It’s between you and God if you believe in Him or not, FWIW. Im happy to answer any other questions you’d like to ask.)
No I don’t have any questions; I have a claim with substantial evidence that Jesus perpetuated anti-trans beliefs and I have yet to see any evidence to the contrary.
You don’t have a “claim”, you have an anti-christian (and anti-relgious) bias I suspect I couldn’t talk you out of with a time-travelling phone box and a univerally-translating fish.
I hope whatever hurt you can’t hurt you anymore, and that you find love and joy in your life.
Haha I have a lot of love and joy in my life, do you really need to resort to baseless ad hominems for your argument?
And why exactly do I not have a claim? I cited scripture which directly contradicts your point and provided a clear argument. I could be very easily “talked out” of my position if you simply presented any scripture where Jesus shows support for trans rights. Thus far you have not done that.
do you really need to resort to baseless ad hominems for your argument?
It wasn’t an ad hominem attack. It was a genuine statement of fraternal love, as Jesus taught His followers to strive for.
I hate that we’ve let whineocracy win.
Everyday I thank the universe/chance/FSM/bender/the great scott/whatever I wasn’t born in the USA especially a shithole bible state.
This is the correct reaction.
I was born in a old era swing state, moved to a seriously blue (so, you know center right) state, and now I’ve left the country altogether. Sorry you got dealt an even worse hand.
In the recent ’ Original Constitutional Principles Affecting Culture’ event where the student Fulnecky discusss this, it stick out to me that she admits that the University directed her on how to file a grade appeal & file discrimination claim. She seemed upset that she wasn’t validated. I am a person that leans that the paper deserved a grade but not a passing one, it was terrible. You can read the comment from the TPUSA Faculty Advisor even they admit that much.
I find this so bizarre of a claim because MAGA rode a wave nearly a decade ago of fighting campus “Safe Spaces” and “Facts don’t care about your Feelings” yet this student is claiming that other groups and religions would have been given “validation” & “Compassion”.
Doubt the RW in my state of Oklahoma cares about any of that and just want to assault Public Education from k-12 & higher ed. Her claim is that she didn’t get an experience that Far-Right Christians & Republicans have purged from that very campus.
This has nothing to do about anything other than targeting the Instructor as well as setting up plans to defund public schools & all other aspects. OU is really going to hurt themselves caving to this mob and not defending the instructor.
USA! USA! USA!
