Opposing transgender athletes cost me my job as Austin's fire chaplain, now I'm suing

Opposing transgender athletes cost me my job in a program I founded as Austin's fire chaplain. Now I'm suing to defend my beliefs from discrimination.

Dr. Andrew Fox is an ordained minister and the former lead chaplain for the Austin Fire Department.

During Austin’s big ice storm last year, I was called to a devastating scene where a family, trying to keep warm, accidentally caught their house on fire. As the firefighters pulled bodies out of the burning house, I pulled coverings over the bodies, shielding their faces from prying eyes and cameras. After the fire crews cleaned the scene, I spent time debriefing with them, praying with some, and talking to others who came to me afterward.  The stress firefighters experience can negatively affect their physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing, and I was also called to the scene of firefighter deaths — tragically, some in the line of duty and some by their own hand. During these times of grief, I was there for the families, helping them walk through this unimaginable loss.  Unfortunately, I’m writing in the past tense because I’m no longer a chaplain for the Austin Fire Department. I was fired from my volunteer role because I shared my religious views on my personal blog — views which city officials could not tolerate. The controversial viewpoint that extinguished my career? Writing about my religious and commonsense view that men and women are biologically different, and men should not compete on women’s sports teams.  When city officials demanded that I recant and apologize for the harm my blog post allegedly caused, I explained that my intent was to foster discussion, not cause offense. And I apologized if anyone was offended. I could not, however, recant my beliefs or apologize for my faith. 

But my simple apology wasn’t enough. City officials fired me from the volunteer chaplaincy I created. For eight years, I served every firefighter with consistent, compassionate care and equal treatment, no matter who they were, including those in the LGBT community. For eight years, I answered every call — voluntarily — because I consider it a tremendous honor to support those who sacrifice so much for their community. But all of that meant nothing when I expressed a religious view the city wanted to censor.  It’s never the job of the government to censor speech based on someone’s religious views. Yet that’s exactly what Austin officials did. They demanded I comply with their political ideology, and when I refused to fall in line and recant my deeply held religious views, they made me turn in my uniform.