Western Michigan University Music professor Daniel Mattson prides himself on being a “world-class trombonist.” He says that he had a promising and successful academic career when he was a gay faculty member. However, he alleges that changed when he found religion and declared that he was no longer gay. In a new lawsuit, Mattson claims that the university’s president, its College of Fine Arts dean, its School of Music director and a former director became openly hostile to him and ultimately denied the renewal of his contract after a quarter of century.
Mattson wrote a 2017 memoir titled Why I Don’t Call Myself Gay: How I Reclaimed My Sexual Reality and Found Peace. He also wrote a 2018 article “Why Men Like Me Should Not Be Priests.”
According to the complaint, that did not go over well when, in the fall of 2021, “campus activists discovered Mr. Mattson’s writings on Catholicism and same-sex attraction.”
He specifically blames Professor Lauron Kehrer, who was appointed to the music faculty around 2021 and, in late September of 2021, “discovered Mr. Mattson’s writings on his experiences with homosexuality and his effort to reject the ‘gay lifestyle’ by returning to his Catholic faith.”
Kehrer’s bio states that “she has published articles on queer identity and women’s music, white rapper Macklemore, and Beyoncé in the journals American Music, the Journal of the Society for American Music, and Popular Music and Society, respectively. Her research focuses on the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality in American popular music, especially hip-hop.”
Mattson alleges that “Professor Kehrer started a campaign to restrict and cancel his planned events as a Guest Artist [and] engaged students, other faculty members, and administrators in this effort, notably the Dean of the College of Fine Arts (Defendant Guyette) and his Special Assistant for Diversity and Inclusion, Kenlana Ferguson.”
The complaint includes a tweet from Kehrer declaring that “I will not be going to any recitals by ex-gay activists, thanks.” Kehrer does not appear as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Mattson’s Catholic views were declared offensive by many, he was removed from a student-faculty ensemble, and ultimately denied contract renewal.
Mattson insists that he never raised these issues in classes or on campus. He is alleging violations of his freedom of speech, religion and equal protection.
I have previously written how the environment of intolerance on our campuses has a particularly pronounced chilling effect on “contingent” or contractual faculty.
Most professors are not protected by tenure, and universities can cite other reasons for not renewing their contracts.
The percentage of tenured professors has been declining for half a century. Roughly three of four faculty today are what are called “contingent faculty,” or faculty who work contract to contract.
The problem is that this contingency often seems to depend upon an adherence to a new orthodoxy on racial justice, police abuse, gender identification and other issues. When a professor voices a dissenting view, universities will often defend free speech principles but then simply fail to renew a contract on unstated grounds.
That’s what happened to Greg Manco, a professor at St. Joseph’s University, who was effectively terminated for criticizing calls for reparations, including three tweets from Manco’s anonymous Twitter account, “South Jersey Giants.” The school’s human-resources department informed Manco he was responsible for “biased or discriminatory” statements and placed on administrative leave pending an investigation’s outcome. After he was cleared, however, the university refused to renew his contract. He has filed a federal lawsuit.
Some of us have tenure and that makes it more challenging to fire us. The fact is that, for the many faculty in the same position, their continued teaching is both legally and practically “contingent” on satisfying the demands of the majority at universities.
Here is the complaint: Mattson v. Guyette
Seems the “woke” are starting to “wake up” and proving the alphabet lifestyle is a choice and not naturally occuring.
I’m a 61 year old gay guy who came out in the SF Bay Area circa 1978, back when, even there, it was a risky thing to do. I’m pleased that we now have gay marriage, and that gays generally enjoy the same rights as everyone else.
But it frankly beggars belief that this Professor Daniel Mattson is now being fired because they found out he’s straight. Yes, I realize there’s a bit more political baggage attached in his case. But isn’t DEI/Trans/LGB/ETC all about being true to your self? The extreme Left Wing, best embodied in the “ethos” of academe these days isn’t even consisten in their value system.
All of this alphabet soup of identity politics has gone way WAY too far. Had you told me 10 years ago that I’d have become Republican-leaning (I’m still a registered Dem), I’d have said you were insane. Well, it’s now the Democrats who are insane. In addition to the above, they are now as anti-free speech as the mullahs in Iran, and apparently also perfectly willing to toss aside equal justice under the law, and a bunch of other cherished American principles.
It’s a truly sad day in America.
Kim G
Roma Sur, Mexico City
Despite the choice you made, you have always had the same RIGHTS as everyone else. (ps: marriage is not a right)
He hung up his rusty trombone.
I only came into the comments section to make this terrible joke and you’d beaten me to it.
Democrats are a Worldwide embarrassment to our country. They are a confused pretend-anything-that-you-feel lot, politicizing the law AND laws of nature and nature’s man. They are an embarrassment to our society, the World over. Shun them from society.
How does this work? I “liked” a comment but nothing happened.
Professor Lauron Kehrer. LOL!
God only gave one commandment about how to deal with homosexuality and the U.S. government refused to obey God and carry out the death penalty. So what that means is that God will do it Himself. But there’s a catch to it. He won’t just execute the homosexuals. God will execute the entire nation. governments, politicians and all. And it will happen in a flash, just like Sodom and Gomorrah.
People don’t want to hear that kind of truth, but you are correct.
I read where only 20% of gay men are actually homosexual…. the rest got sucked into it.
How can a person change their minds? Didn’t gays say they were born that way?
Given that we are required to pretend that Homosexuality and Transsexuality are both rights, and choices,
How is it that you could ever determine if a person is actually gay or actually trans ?
The lefts criteria is identifying as Gay means you are gay (except if you later change your mind).
I do not claim to know the answer as to whether there is some immutable root to sexual identity.
But the real problem is we are not allowed to even ask the question.
My guess is that sexual orientation distributes along a bell curve – with the curve peak at about a 70:30 preference for the opposite sex.
That means nearly all of us are partly attracted tot he same sex, and very few of us are exclusively attracted to only one sex.
Most human attributes distribute that way.
But that also means that a person who is 60:40 attracted tot he same sex could be very happy in a straight relationship.
“That means nearly all of us are partly attracted tot he same sex, and very few of us are exclusively attracted to only one sex.”
Jails are an excellent place to prove the argument.
I am sure we will hear more tomorrow, but Fatso forgot to actually state a crime in his indictment.
Oh well, I hope Republicans don’t make the same mistake when they start prosecuting Democrats.
When you open Pandora’s Box expect trouble to fly out. And don’t assume you can close it whenever you want.
Is Brotha Bragg’s “epic” tome on the NY Times bestseller list yet?
79% of the population according to a recent poll think there is two-tier justice system operating in favor of DC elites at the expense of regular working people.
That’s a preposterous assertion.
I think it’s more like 98% believe it and the other 2% are institutionalized.
All of the 2% of America’s Pedos & Pedo Supporters Commie Marxist like Dennis, Svelaz, Gigi all agree Orange Man Bad.
“the people are nothing but a great beast…
I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value.”
– Alexander Hamilton
_________________
“The true reason (says Blackstone) of requiring any qualification, with regard to property in voters, is to exclude such persons, as are in so mean a situation, that they are esteemed to have no will of their own.”
“If it were probable that every man would give his vote freely, and without influence of any kind, then, upon the true theory and genuine principles of liberty, every member of the community, however poor, should have a vote… But since that can hardly be expected, in persons of indigent fortunes, or such as are under the immediate dominion of others, all popular states have been obliged to establish certain qualifications, whereby, some who are suspected to have no will of their own, are excluded from voting; in order to set other individuals, whose wills may be supposed independent, more thoroughly upon a level with each other.”
– Alexander Hamilton, The Farmer Refuted, 1775
_______________________________________
“[We gave you] a [one man, one vote dictatorship of the proletariat], if you can keep it.”
– Ben Franklin, 1787
The Founders were concerned for the dominion of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The Founders were not concerned with the ideological hallucinations of 79% of the population.
Turnout was 11.6% in 1788, by design.
Professor Turley, you looked great on television. I think you’re right. There’s no there, there.
We claim to have anti discrimination laws, that’s not true.
We have selective discrimination laws.
Discrimination, you say?
The communist, American, welfare state is all discrimination, bias, favor and charity: Matriculation affirmative action, grade-inflation affirmative action, employment affirmative action, quotas, welfare, food stamps, minimum wage, rent control, social services, forced busing, public housing, utility subsidies, WIC, SNAP, TANF, HAMP, HARP, TARP, HHS, HUD, Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Labor, Energy, Obamacare, Social Security, Social Security Disability, Social Security Supplemental Income, Medicare, Medicaid, “Fair Housing” laws, “Non-Discrimination” laws, etc.
Never would the honorable communists illicitly and immorally discriminate, right?
They just forcibly (i.e. a la Lincoln with a gun to our heads) impose their motto: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
Now that’s red-blooded, patriotic, American Freedom and Self-Reliance.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, “The Right Honorable District Attorney of New York County, New York, Alvin Bragg BENT the law.”
He “BENT” the law.
Careful there, don’t over do it, Ron.
After Gorsuch’s Title VII trans opinion, this seems like a slam-dunk win for plaintiff.
“What you do on your own time is your own business. So long as you don’t bring it into work. You are an excellent trombonist, and that is why you are employed here.”
That is how a good and decent supervisor handles their staff — whatever this misguided fellow’s views are notwithstanding.
Jonathan: Let me get this straight. Mattson was a gay WNU music professor but then “found religion and declared that he was no longer gay”. Was this a case of Catholic gay “conversion therapy” or was Mattson ever gay?
Mattson’s anti-gay views have been around for a long time. In an article in “First Things” (4/10/13), a Catholic publication, Mattson says he subscribes to the view that “Sexual intercourse is moral only between a man a woman within marriage”. Mattson makes clear: “A homosexual ‘orientation’ … does not exist within God’s blueprint for humanity. We know this is based on the authority of the Church, the custodian and interpreter of revelation…Embracing a gay identity prevents us from knowing ourselves as we are known by God”. For Mattson homosexuality is a “lifestyle” that should be rejected. And it’s not true, as Mattson alleges in his lawsuit, that he kept his views on homosexuality entirely private. He was published widely in Catholic publications.
Mattson’s anti-gay views don’t comport with the science. Homosexuality is not a “lifestyle”–despite what the Church claims through the “revelation” in Genesis. And that’s why so many on the WNU campus, including the LGBTQ community, refused to attend Mattson’s convert. Whether Mattson is successful, because he did not have tenure, is problematic. In any case Mattson has become another poster child for the anti-gay crowd. That’s too bad because I understand Mattson is a celebrated trombonist.
Dennis McIntyre, you couldn’t care less that this man is a celebrated trombonist. Your sympathy comes from a very shallow place. What you are really saying is that it is right to cancel this man because he has come to a revelation with which you do not agree. You have absolutely no concern that his means of making a living which he has earned through fostering his talent has been put to an end. You seem to think that he was just born with a trombone in his hand. You have no concern for the many hours of practice he went through and goes through to maintain his level of proficiency. You throw your little “to bad” in at the end of your comment but you don’t really give a damn about this man. In an earlier comment I stated that this is all about he was “born” this way. If that narrative is destroyed by his actions your premise false apart so you must attack with all the venom in your heart. Right on cue you bring up the born with it philosophy. Philosophy is exactly what it is and it is not born out by Science. Lets see. Either two X chromosome or an X and a Y chromosome. Your fake sympathy for the man is duly noted but is not found in surprise.
To coin a phrase “What difference does it make?” Either he could play the trombone or not. How is anything else relevant?
I know a woman who was lesbian. She became a Christian and is no longer a lesbian. She is also a conservative patriot!
Regardless of what his views are on gays and how he came to them, he is entitled to them. And as long he is not calling for gays should to be harmed then he shouldn’t lose his job for having those views – period!
Mattson’s anti-gay views don’t comport with the science.
Oh boy…this is going to be epic.
Please Dennis…inform me on the science.
@Dennis,
Regardless of what drives Mattson, or his views, he has a right to express those views outside of his professional work.
The allegations he raises, if true, would mean that the University is in the wrong.
-G
Homosexuality is most certainly a lifestyle choice for some – I would argue most. If you take childhood abuse of some sort out of the picture, and also cultural influences, I bet the number who feel “naturally” attracted to the same sex goes down by an order of magnitude.
Wouldn’t it have been easier to just leave this man alone?
Dumbasses
“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just leave this man alone?
Dumbasses”
+++
Yes, it would, but one thing the Left is good at is not leaving people alone.
I remember reading about a Conestoga wagon on the Oregon Trail with “Mind Your Own Business” painted on the side. I think I would have liked that guy.
Young,
I suspect generally there are several factors at play in this in other similar situations. One has to ask the question, “Why are we here?” That is, cohorts in a particular organization asking themselves collectively what their duty is within the global goals of their organization and equally importantly how that the two serve the organization. The second step is to question whether one’s actions serve these goals in the most efficient and profitable manner available and possible.
In the case of an institution of higher learning I propose that the main goal would be to properly prepare the broadest number of students for the workforce and society in general with the most efficient cost in terms of money and time. An administrator of a school wasting time on fool’s errands and going after one individual for vindictive puposes only does not serve the “Why are we here” question and as far as cost/benefit detracts from performing higher level functions that benefit the student body generally. Not only does going on the warpath to banish one individual hurt this college but it actually harms the organization; and without any upside.
Malfeasances by administrators has been around for centuries, it’s not going away easily. Yet since the mid-1980’s I believe we have seen a change in how bureaucrats and mid to higher level administrators have evaluated risk with regard to personnel and such. In the past, at least in the realm in which I observed, there was more emphasis in controlling litigation costs and loss of reputation of the organization. Administrators were actually more restrained in attacking others because it wasn’t worth a lawsuit. Twenty years later, the trend has been that egos and power must be maintained and the tax payers’ money is of no consequence whatever. It seems agancies pay out millions in legal costs just to fight a person to the bitter end, for no reason other than their unyielding resolve not to be proven wrong or to harass their nemesis. Most of it stems from bad-actors in power refusing to leave people alone and by people in charge who believe they have unquestioned dominion over all.
You are correct about those who refuse to leave people alone. It is all about control and forced obedience. Oddly, it is the ones are the most vocal about being left alone that control freaks want to micromanage the most. The more an individual citizen says he want’s to be left alone, the more a petty tyrant resolves to attack him. Sic Semper Tyrranis.
“Administrators were actually more restrained in attacking others because it wasn’t worth a lawsuit. Twenty years later, the trend has been that egos and power must be maintained and the tax payers’ money is of no consequence whatever.”
Darren, you hit the nail on the head. What interests me is administrators complain about Trump’s use of the court, yet they go out of their way to create a case to garner approval by non-thinking adults. Trump is a businessman where the courts adjudicate contract disputes. Trump uses his own money while these administrators use yours and mine.
Darren,
If they ask, “Why Are We Here” they are getting the wrong answers.
What they should be getting is that they have a fiduciary duty to advance the organization in a manner consistent with the purposes for which it was established.
Instead they seem to believe that it is proper for them to hijack an organization for what they think is a greater purpose.
Perhaps it is a greater purpose, but they should use their own resources for it.
The same is true of corporations, of course. The board and chief executive officers have a fiduciary duty to benefit their shareholders.
Despite that fundamental duty that is black letter law in every corporate law course, the trend lately has been to damage the shareholders by advancing some other cause.
Budweiser Light just made a spectacular and funny blunder in branding their product as the beer for transsexuals.
How many men are going to belly up to the bar and ask for that drink now while their friends begin laughing at them? Of course they have snared the transsexual-beer-drinkers market but that cohort is more likely to remain in role by sipping wine.
It’s the opposite message of The Marlboro Man that actually sold a lot of cigarettes to men and women. Virginia Slims, not so much. Now Budweiser Light seems to be the Virginia Slims of beer…but only for transsexuals.
Oh well, I never drank it anyhow and it is kind of funny to see a corporation step on a big banana and land smack on its behind in such a stupid way.
Young,
I like your proposition of assuming a fiduciary duty to advance the organization. That should be a fundamental aspect of standard business administration–it applies globally and common to probably all. For me I regard those who hijack an organization’s resources, prestige, and treasure to accomplish personal goals divergent from their employer’s as being more accurately described as bandits than employees. The banditry is further evidenced in that they do not use personal resources to do this, and would not be successful in their malfeasances using only limited personal resources. So it is a form of theft of the organization’s good will.
Your mention of the Bud Light mistake reminds me of that of electric cars in the 1910s. At the time, some automakers recognized that electric cars would appeal to women due to being easier to start–they did not require a manual hand crank which took a bit of strenth and could injure the driver if not used property–and were without the cantankerous gear shift that most cars of the time had. It was true that women did tend to like these cars so manufactures of the higher-end electrics began fitting their cars with flower holders and vanity mirrors. Again, many women of the time enjoyed these features but in the end the campaign was not as successful in that electric cars developed a label as being a Women’s Car and too many men were disuaded in purchasing an electric due to “face” issues. This was greatly unfortunate in that we might have been better off with electrics from early on but that’s another agument. Certainly there were other factors that favored the petrol cars but the label as being a women’s car could not be ignored at the time. That is surely a temporal issue as electrics have no such preconcieved notions of being a women’s or a man’s car.
One of the more humorous examples was the Japanese candy called “Pocky”. It is like a sweet crunchy biscuit-like stick coated with an icing like flavoring like Strawberry or chocolate. Later, they came out with, in English, “Men’s Pocky”. I guess the regular Pocky wasn’t manly enough so that had to emphatically provide MEN’SPocky to allow the nervous man the opportunity to eat or buy the Pocky he so enjoyed without having to suffer the shame of having his masculinity potentially questioned. 🙂
Darren,
That’s funny. I hadn’t heard of the gender angst nimbus around Pocky. But if I were in the advertising industry I most certainly would have made it my business to know and take care. Even if Budweiser hadn’t heard of Pocky they surely should have noticed the collapse in sales of Gillette’s products after they ran an ad showing a man helping his f to m transsexual daughter how to shave.
It isn’t just transsexual ads that are the issue, of course, but any ad that doesn’t have as its goal to sell the product to as many people as possible. Sex sells but to the target buyer, hence Marlboro Man or the Angels of Victoria’s Secrets. Put the Marlboro Man in a Victoria’s Secrets outfit [but keep the cowboy hat] and the cash register isn’t going to ring much and the ad man needs to be fired.
I like your idea of banditry by executives who ignore their fiduciary duty and use corporate assets and goodwill to promote anything that doesn’t advance the business. It goes beyond mere negligence. Banditry is a good term for it.
Men at Infowars made good use of time hooking up with Kid Rock’s material.
https://www.infowars.com/posts/rip-bud-light-special-report/
He was in the good graces of the President, Dean and some other music faculty as long as he played sweet tunes on their “tromboners.”
Why do they hate the idea of a homosexual becoming straight? They hate it because it flys in the face of the idea that you were born as a homosexual. Everything hinges on it. They do the same thing to people who have changed their minds about being transsexual. How can you possibly become heterosexual when you were born a homosexual? If leaving a gay life style is possible then their born with it argument falls apart. This is why their resistance is so intense. If such a thing can happen the very foundation of their cult crumbles to dust. In the dust is where it should be.
@Think,
You wrote:
“Why do they hate the idea of a homosexual becoming straight? They hate it because it flys in the face of the idea that you were born as a homosexual. ”
There’s this concept of ‘gender fluid’.
So I guess it could be less about his being straight, but more about his move towards being a good catholic? Which would further the argument that they are more anti-Christian than his sexual orientation.
-G
A “world-class trombonist” is reduced to nothing more than a letter of an acronym. Once the LGBT+ industrial complex gets ahold of an individual, a world-class trombonist will forever more be known as a “gay music professor.” A faction within the collective.