He was expelled after he got into an online argument in support of Kim Davis, where he expressed solidarity with the Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples -- or to allow any of her staff to issue marriage licenses. He wrote that "I stand with Kim Davis" and then quoted several Bible verses that he used to condemn LGBTQ people.
Since then, he's appealed the expulsion through academic and court sources and the Court of Appeal finally ruled in his favor, arguing that he should be heard by another Fitness to Practice hearing.
Predictably, online debate has focused on whether or not social workers can be truly effective social workers if they believe that LGBTQ people are wallowing in sin, or if we're able to separate our personal beliefs from our professional actions.
Personally, I believe that there are many, many social workers out there who truly believe that LGBTQ people live sinful and awful and depraved lifestyles -- regardless what our individual lifestyles actually look like. It never made a lot of sense to target Felix Ngole instead of trying to work with him within the social work program to make improvements. But they came down on his like a ton of bricks and he dug in like the international anti-gay martyr that he's become.
But the really issue is about his solidarity with Kim Davis. Kim Davis actually did go to jail over opposition to same-sex marriage -- sort of. She refused to process marriage license applications for local constituents and taxpayers. She refused to allow anyone from her office to process marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She insisted that those couples travel to neighboring counties instead of accessing local services that their taxes paid for.
And then she got sued by the local residents whose services that she refused. She lost in court and was told to do her job. She continued to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. So she got hauled back into court and was found to be in contempt for explicitly refusing to follow her court order. So she went to jail. And she sat until one of her employees said that he was perfectly fine being the one employee that same-sex couples contact to process marriage licenses.
So when I read that Felix Ngole "stands with Kim Davis," I don't hear "I believe in traditional marriage." I hear, "I think that I should be able to refuse services to LGBTQ clients."
Here is an example of how anti-gay bias by social workers completely messed around with a same-sex couple. Back in the very late 90s, I was friends with a male couple in a neighboring county. One was a teacher and the other worked in the court system. They had been together as a couple for a while and had built a home and were very stable. They wanted to become parents and knew that there was an ongoing need for new foster parents so they got a home study and did the classes and ultimately got licensed to care for foster children.
And then they sat and waited. Turns out the the department in charge of their county completely refused to place any children in a same-sex household. Not because of any specific concerns about the couple -- outside of the fact that they were a male couple. They finally reached out to social workers in a neighboring county (i.e., my county) and learned that they were indeed blackballed by their local county.
My county subsequently reviewed their home study and found no objections. The local workers were given permission to keep this couple in mind as a foster care placement and subsequently placed a brother and sister with the couple. They fostered the children for a while and eventually adopted them both. But they never would have been offered the opportunity if they hadn't found a way to go-around their local placement social workers.
I think of this couple when I think of Felix Ngole and his solidarity with Kim Davis.
There will be more to ponder as this case continues to unfold. Hopefully both sides (Felix Ngole and Sheffield University) will take this opportunity to take deep breaths and consider how they can truly and effectively work alongside each other.