Citing Monkeypox Outbreak, Dallas Professor Calls for 'Cure for Homosexuality'

Students at the University of Texas are calling for disciplinary action to be taken against a professor defending his comments calling for a "cure for homosexuality."

The Dallas Morning News reported that "Timothy Farage, a computer science professor, tweeted on Friday a story stating that the majority of monkeypox cases in New York are men."

"Can we at least try to find a cure for homosexuality, especially among men? Homosexual men have anal sex, which can lead to a variety of diseases," Farage wrote on Twitter.

Twitter later removed the tweet for violating the site's rules, according to the Dallas Observer.

Farage attempted to clarify his position the following day after facing pushback.

"I don't think homosexuality is wrong," he tweeted Saturday. "I think it is a medical disorder."

The Dallas Observer said that the University of Texas at Dallas announced Monday that it is investigating following complaints that a professor's tweets were homophobic and spread misinformation.

The Dallas Morning News added, "Farage, who has taught at the school for more than 20 years, defended his comment, saying that he is not 'hateful or bigoted or homophobic or racist' and that finding a cure for 'homosexuals who'd rather be heterosexual' is 'compassionate.'"

"If somebody doesn't want to be, why not try to find a way to help them do that?" Farage said. "My comment was to try to be helpful and compassionate ... I never said a word against homosexuals or transgender individuals or anything."

On Saturday, the university posted on social media that school officials were aware of recent tweets by a faculty member and stressed that the person's views don't represent the campus. University officials noted that they are reviewing and investigating complaints about the statement.

Psychology major Chase Mueller, president of Pride at UTD, told the Dallas Observer he felt "disgust and horror" when he first learned of Farage's initial tweet.

"The idea that a cure for homosexuality is something to be researched ... is homophobic. It is proven false," he said. "So, the fact that it was being promoted by a professor at the university I attend was something that just hit like a ton of bricks. It was startling."

Mueller said although he never had Farage as a professor, he knows of many LGBTQ+ students who left Farage's class feeling uncomfortable. Others didn't want to attend at all.