Mayor Holt needs to live up to “The Oklahoma City Declaration”

Last week, OKC Mayor David Holt, with great fanfare, heralded the signing of “The Oklahoma City Declaration”, a document signed by Mayors from across the nation, which promised that those mayors, led by Mayor Holt, would respect all viewpoints and stand up for the rights of all people to exist peacefully despite our differences. It emphasized the responsibility of mayors to “guide our residences through these democratic processes, respecting pluralism, seeking compromise, and using the art of persuasion.”

Not only that, they pledged to take responsibility for their actions: “We invite accountability for having signed this declaration. If someone alleges we have fallen short of the aspirations we held ourselves to having signed this document, we will consider and potentially accept their observation, and will seek improvement the next time.”

Sadly, Mayor Holt fell short of that pledge on the very same post where he made those lofty promises. One week earlier, Paula Sophia Schonauer, a Trans woman who has contributed for decades to the well-being of Oklahoma City, was fired from her job at Oklahoma City University, where Mayor Holt is the Dean of OCU Law School. 

The reason for her firing? She spoke out about the elevation of Charlie Kirk to nearly saint status after his death, not in any way celebrating his demise, but calling out his anti-Trans rhetoric and other bigoted behavior. Paula was attacked almost immediately, receiving hateful comments and emails, culminating in actual death threats. 

At first, her supervisors at OCU sympathized with her and appeared to be supportive of her 1st Amendment rights, but after a few days, she as unceremoniously fired. 

On Holt’s post, a commentator posted about Paula’s plight, asking Holt if he was going to speak up about Paula’s politically motivated firing:

“This is great! In the spirit of pluralism, compromise, truth, and civility, do you plan to make any comment upon the unjust and possibly illegal firing of Paula Sophia Schonauer from Oklahoma City University after her doxxing by Republican extremists over the death of Charlie Kirk?”

I replied to the comment, pointing out that not only is Holt our mayor, but that he is also the Dean of OCU Law School, and pointing out that “Symbolic gestures aren’t the same as using one’s position to actually fight for Trans rights.” 

I typed out a second comment, saying “I also tagged him on Paula’s post a few days ago, hopefully he’s going to make a strong public stand against the abuse she’s endured.” 

When I hit the post button, it said “posting” but then said the thread I was posting on was no longer available. Holt not only deleted my comment, he deleted the entire thread about Paula’s plight. To put it bluntly, it was a cowardly thing to do, especially on a post about a mayors’ pledge that held those mayors to a higher standard and promised to take responsibility for their cities and the individual rights of their residents. To this day, Holt has not publicly said a single word about Paula’s firing or the harassment and threats of violence against her.

In closing, I am directly holding Mayor Holt accountable, and asking him…for the third time…to use his position of authority and his considerable power of persuasion to speak out against the traumatizing attacks on Paula Sophia Schonauer’s character and her unjust firing by OCU. Do the right thing, as you so boldly promised in “The Oklahoma City Declaration.” 

There is an OCU student organized petition signing in support of Paula this Sunday, Oct. 5 at 6PM, at the OCU Student Pavilion at 2501 N. Blackwelder, OKC