The controversial statement against homosexuals and transgenders led to much controversy last week. Marc de Vries, professor of Christian Philosophy of Technology, is one of more than two hundred signatories of the statement’s Dutch translation. In an interview with Delta, the news website of TU Delft, he makes a distinction between “homosexual orientation and expressing it in a relationship.”

Diversity

Unlike the VU and the UvA, TU Delft has not distanced itself from the Nashville Statement. A spokesperson has stated that the board “respects the fact that everyone has a personal opinion.” The executive board wants to discuss the matter with De Vries.

Former student Charlotte Ros of TU Delft Feminists has a different view. “Freedom of speech should not be used to discriminate or exclude.” Her group believes that displaying rainbow flags is “an empty symbol politics if not followed by concrete policy.”

Open letter

In an open letter, the group demands that TU Delft “resolutely and publicly” distances itself from the Nashville Statement. In addition, the authors demand that de Vries will be dismissed if he does not withdraw his signature from the Nashville Statement within a week. The letter has already been signed by more than sixty people. The board has not yet reacted to the demands of TU Delft Feminists.

Marc de Vries has worked in Eindhoven in the past. In 1988, he graduated at TU/e on the role of technology in science education, and he worked at the department of Philosophy and Ethics of Technology between 1990 and 2003.