Christian college suspends transgender student after breast reduction surgery

A transgender student at a Christian
college in Tennesee has been suspended
for “sexual perversion” after undergoing
breast reduction surgery.
Yanna Awtrey was born female to Baptist
missionaries but identifies as male and
was suspended for two semesters by a
disciplinary committee at Welch College
this month.
Welch College is a Free Will Baptist
institution located outside of Nashville with
just under 400 undergraduates. It was
formerly known as Free Will Baptist Bible
College.

Awtrey was gearing up for a junior year at
the college when he underwent breast
reduction surgery (also called “top
surgery”) on August 2 as part of a gender
reassignment procedure following months
of taking hormone pills.

Awtrey told NBC News about an email
received from Welch College vice president
for student services, Jon Forlines, the day
of the surgery explaining that Awtrey was
no longer allowed back at the dorms
“because of the choices you have made.”
Forlines offered to arrange for Awtrey to
stay at a nearby hotel for a week and
provide food money while Awtrey looked
for a new place to stay.
It was also alleged that the college tried to
have Awtrey sign a withdrawal form.
But after the student refused to sign the
form, a disciplinary hearing was held last
Wednesday.

At the hearing, Forlines claimed that
Awtrey violated a section of the student
handbook that bars “any kind of sexual
immorality” or “impurity.” The handbook
not only bars students from engaging in
premarital and extramarital sexual relations
but also bars students from engaging in
“sexual perversions in any form”.

Awtrey claimed during the hearing that no
acts of immorality were committed that
“disobeys the college handbook and the
Bible”. But Forlines contended that “sexual
perversion” is not “just a matter of a sexual
act,” according to The Tennessean.

The committee issued Awtrey a two-term
suspension. After those two semesters,
Awtrey will have the opportunity to reapply
for enrollment at the college. However,
Awtrey would have to again go before the
disciplinary committee in order to be
reinstated.
The Tennessean reports that Awtrey was
also given the chance to appeal the
committee’s decision but declined to do so.

Welch College President Matt Pinson said
in a statement that he could not comment
on individual cases.
“The college holds that God created
humanity in two distinct and
complementary sexes: male and female,”
Pinson’s statement reads.

Welch College maintains that students
experiencing gender confusion should be
treated with “love and compassion.”
However, Pinson stated that Welch College
believes that “attempting to alter one’s
bodily identity constitutes a rejection of
God’s design for humanity”.

“The college is also aware that such
attempts all too rarely deliver on their
promises to alleviate psychological and
emotional suffering,” Pinson’s statement
adds.

“The college thus invites all transgender
individuals to trust fully in Christ and
experience renewal in the gospel.”
Pinson explained that the college’s
community standards hold that “students
are to obey God’s revealed will in Holy
Scripture and avoid behaviors that
constitute a rejection of the divine design
for human sexuality.”
“Our desire is to show individuals
experiencing gender confusion the love and
compassion of Christ while bearing witness
to God’s design as revealed in Holy
Scripture for His human creatures as male
and female,” he said.
“We believe that a commitment to historic
Christian teaching on human gender and
sexuality must ever be melded with love,
compassion, and sensitivity to people who
are made in the image of God.”

Pinson made clear that Welch College
informs all campus community members —
whether staff, students or faculty — that
the institution’s beliefs on sexuality and
gender inform the administration’s
decisions on hiring and housing.

Awtrey contested the school’s explanation.
“Gender and sexuality are intrinsically
linked, but that doesn’t mean they’re the
same,” Awtrey told The Tennessean. “I
don’t think they had anything in the
handbook for being transgender, and I do
think it was a really long stretch for them
to label me in that category, but they did.”

Although Awtrey kept her gender identity
hidden while attending the evangelical
institution, one of Awtrey’s roommates in a
female dormitory read Awtrey’s diary and
outed Awtrey to school officials about a
year ago.

From that point, Awtrey claimed to have
been put under an “unofficial” set of rules
by the school.
“I was under strict rules that I could only
attend the college if I stayed with a
Christian therapist and if I didn’t tell
anyone else I was transgender or bisexual,”
Awtrey was quoted as telling The
Tennessean.