Ex-LGBTQ Ally Fights Back Over Claim She Was Fired After Becoming a Christian

A former staff member at a public college in New York City is fighting back after claiming she was fired after becoming a Christian. Teona Pagan was the fellowships and public service program coordinator at City University of New York's Research Foundation until she requested a religious accommodation that she claims was denied. Pagan, who filed a lawsuit Aug. 28, told CBN News her job as the fellowships and public service program coordinator at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership made her responsible for helping "students to pursue their dreams through different fellowships." Pagan said problems began for her after she became a Christian and started to question one of the fellowships for which she was responsible. "I became more of a devout Christian," she said. "I always believed in God, but definitely began running after Him in April of 2022." Pagan continued, "And, so, with that comes a lot of responsibility. ... [God] tells us to deny ourselves, pick up a cross, and follow after Him, and, so, that comes with a lot of conviction, and that comes with a lot of ensuring that I lived by what I was preaching." She was living out her faith at church and in other areas of her life, but felt she wasn't "living up to it in the fullness" at work. She said an LGBTQ-inspired fellowship she oversaw left her feeling convicted, as she had come to believe homosexuality violates Scripture. "I didn't feel comfortable continuing to do that," Pagan said of running the fellowship. "But it wasn't just [like] I woke up one day and just decided to refuse to do my job. It was prayer, it was fasting, it was consulting with my spiritual leadership." Ironically, Pagan said she was "an advocate" and "an ally" of the LGBTQ community before becoming a Christian. She said she was also a supporter of Black Lives Matter. "Once I got saved, everything changed for me," she said, later adding, "I was an advocate for all these different intersectional things that ... have the face of social change, but behind it is sin and nothing but going against the Word of God." So, Pagan decided to seek an accommodation for the one fellowship she oversaw that she felt violated her convictions, and believed there was more than enough staff to cover that task. Here's what happened next.