Biology professor fired from Texas college after saying sex is determined by chromosomes

At St. Philip's College in San Antonio, biology professor Johnson Varkey was fired after 20 years of teaching. Four students walked out of his class after he reiterated that sex is determined by chromosomes. 

According to a letter sent to the college by First Liberty Legal Group, Varkey received an email from Randall Dawson, the Vice President for Academic Success at St. Philip's, on January 10, 2023.



The email stated, "I am sending you notification that Alamo Colleges District Human Resources department is in receipt of an ethics violation complaint from JBSA-Lackland, related to your facilitation of the BIOL 2402 class, during the Flex II Fall 2022 term."

After Varkey responded to the email asking what the violation was, Dawson did not respond. However, Varkey received a notice informing him of his termination of employment on January 27. 

The notice claimed that several complaints were made about his, “religious preaching, discriminatory comments about homosexuals and transgender individuals, anti-abortion rhetoric, and misogynistic banter" were made. 

According to the letter from First Liberty, the incident with the students walking out happened on November 28, 2022, after he said that "sex was determined by chromosomes X and Y."

The letter says that although Varkey is a "devout Christian" he never "mentioned them in class" and did not "preach any of his beliefs."

According to the letter, he had been speaking this way about the biological nature of sex for his whole time at St. Philip and "no other students have ever complained" about the basic, scientific comments. 

The letter alleges that as a result of the firing, Varkey has a right to legal damages under the first amendment and other legal protections. As a public university, St. Philip is subject to the protections given under such laws. 

The letter states, "St. Philip’s College violated Title VII when it terminated Dr. Varkey because of his religious beliefs and protected speech. The only reason the College gave for firing him was the student complaint(s) of 'religious preaching, discriminatory comments about homosexuals and transgender individuals, anti-abortion rhetoric, and misogynistic banter.'"

It goes on to say that "[w]hile Dr. Varkey never preached or proselytized in class, the accusation of religious preaching was clearly in connection with the fact that he serves as an associate pastor."

The letter says that legal action will be taken if Varkey is not reinstated.