Crystal Dixon, who was fired from her job at the University of Toledo in 2008 for writing a newspaper column that argued being gay is a choice and not a matter of civil rights, has been hired to lead a county human rights department in Michigan.

In 2008, Dixon lost her university job as associate vice president for human resources over a column she wrote in the Toledo Free Press called “Gay Rights and Wrongs: Another Perspective.” Her column was a response to an opinion written by the newspaper's editor-in-chief.

“As a Black woman who happens to be an alumnus of the University of Toledo's Graduate School, an employee and business owner, I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are 'civil rights victims,'” she wrote. “Here's why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a Black woman. I am genetically and biologically a Black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended. Daily, thousands of homosexuals make a life decision to leave the gay lifestyle evidenced by the growing population of PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex Gays) and Exodus International just to name a few.”