PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
Tell Fresno City College: No Homophobia in Health Class
  1. Signatures
    494 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. President (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • President (Cynthia Azari)
      • Vice President of Instruction (Tony Cantu)
  2. Created By
    Michael Jones
    Boston, MA
About this Petition Petition Letter

A health professor at Fresno City College has been accused by the ACLU of stoking homophobia in his classroom, teaching anti-gay views and anti-gay religious sentiment as part of his curriculum. The teacher, Professor Dr. Bradley Lopez, who teaches an introductory health class at the college. has gone on record to say that homosexuality is a "misapplication of human sexuality," and that people who are homosexuals should seek "psychological counseling."

According to the ACLU, Dr. Lopez has also said in front of his classroom that gays and lesbians are a threat to society, that instead of global warming people should be worried about the apocalypse, and that abortion is murder.

Fresno City College is a public institution. It shouldn't be a forum for a professor, whose salary is paid by public funds, to prosthelytize in front of a classroom. Demand that Fresno City College respond to these allegations, and urge them to take steps to ensure that their students are being taught science, not religion, in health class.

Recent Signatures

Put an end to homophobia in Fresno City College health classes

Dear President Azari and Vice President Cantu

This week the ACLU sent a letter to Fresno City College, alleging that a health professor at Fresno City College was teaching inappropriate and unscientific material as part of his health curriculum. Among the allegations that the ACLU makes against Professor Dr. Bradley Lopez is that Dr. Lopez has condemned homosexuality in front of his students, has said that lesbian and gay people are a threat to society, has said that abortion is murder, and that people who identify as lesbian and gay should seek counseling and treatment.

This type of anti-gay and anti-choice teaching does not belong in a health classroom at Fresno City College. As a publicly-funded college, the allegations against Dr. Lopez present a potential violation of separation of church and state, not to mention a disservice to students at Fresno City College.

Students enroll in health classes to learn science. They don't enroll in health class to learn a professor's religious viewpoints. I urge you to respond to these allegations against Dr. Lopez, and if required, take appropriate measures to make sure that religion isn't taking the place of health in your classrooms.

To teach that homosexuality is a threat to society and that gays and lesbians should seek counseling is destructive and harmful. If true, this threatens to dampen the academic reputation of Fresno City College, and the reputation of other faculty members on staff at the college.

[Your name]

Press Inquiries