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The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is maintaining its decision to remove a 90-year-old volunteer because she “did not understand [preferred] pronouns.”
“Recently, a volunteer, Fran Itkoff, was asked to step away from her role because of statements that were viewed as not aligning with our policy of inclusion,” the nonprofit explained in a statement. “Fran has been a valued member of our volunteer team for more than 60 years.”
“We believe that our staff acted with the best of intentions and did their best to navigate a challenging issue. As an organization, we are in a continued conversation about assuring that our diversity, equity, and inclusion policies evolve in service of our mission, and will reach out to Fran in service of this goal,” it added.
As reported by The National Desk, Itkoff spent the past 60 years of her life volunteering for the MS Society because her late husband suffered from multiple sclerosis. However, she noted that the problem came when she realized people were listing their “preferred pronouns” on correspondence for the nonprofit, but she didn’t understand what it meant at the time.
“Finally, I was talking to [an MS Society representative] and thought I would ask, ‘What does it mean?’ and let her tell me. She said that it meant ‘they were all-inclusive,’ which didn’t make sense to me.”
She later received a follow-up response to her inquiry, where she received “an email from [a representative] saying that they were sorry but had to ask me to step down as a volunteer for the MS Society.”
Itkoff’s case went viral after she was interviewed by Chaya Raichick of Libs of TikTok.
The MS Society’s X account has since been flooded with responses by people who were upset by the organization’s motive in letting Itkoff go, Faithwire reports.
“I’ve had MS for 10 years, and I am grateful for people like Fran, who has volunteered for 60 years to help end MS in our time,” entrepreneur Spike Cohen wrote. “Why did you ask a 90-year-old volunteer, who has helped with events and fundraising to cure our disease for decades, to stop helping us?”
Although the MS Society stands by its decision, the organization plans to contact Itkoff, even though it is unclear whether she will be invited back to volunteer.
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Image credit: ©Getty Images/Dmitry Berkut
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for Christian Headlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
