Christian OU student flunked after calling gender ideology ‘demonic’
December 4, 2025
A Christian pre-med student at University of Oklahoma (OU) has filed a religious discrimination complaint against the school after she was allegedly flunked by a trans-identified teaching assistant for submitting an essay stating that gender ideology is “demonic.”
The Christian Post reports that psychology major Samantha Fulnecky, who is a junior at OU, received a zero out of 25 for an opinion essay she was told to write in response to an article about social gender expectations.
In her essay, Fulnecky asserts that God created two distinct genders with different roles, and that the idea of changing one’s gender is a satanic assault against that design.
Fulnecky wrote, “I strongly disagree with the idea from the article that encouraging acceptance of diverse gender expressions could improve students’ confidence,” adding, “Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be what they want to be is demonic and severely harms American youth.”
According to the Christian Post, graduate teaching assistant William “Mel” Curth, who uses “she/they” pronouns, objected to Fulnecky’s use of the word “demonic” to describe gender ideology.
In an online grading portal, Curth reportedly wrote that use of the word “demonic” was “highly offensive” to what he called a “minoritized population.”
“Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs, but instead I am deducting point [sic] for you posting a reaction paper that does not answer the questions for this assignment, contradicts itself, heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in a scientific class, and is at times offensive,” Curth wrote.
He added, “I implore you [to] apply some more perspective and empathy in your work.”
Fulnecky filed a discrimination complaint which brought widespread attention to her situation after it went viral on social media.
Her plight attracted the attention of Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt who spoke on on behalf of Fulnecky’s academic freedom.
OU released a statement that same day saying that the school was investigating the incident.
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