NEW YORK CITY (TND) — A 90-year-old volunteer at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society was recently asked to "step away" from her role for not aligning with the organization's inclusion standards, The National Desk confirmed Thursday.
Fran Itkoff, whose late husband reportedly suffered from multiple sclerosis, had been volunteering for the MS Society for nearly six decades. The non-profit's request for Itkoff to step away was first revealed in an interview with the popular social media account Libs of TikTok.
During the interview, Itkoff explained she didn't understand why people were listing their pronouns on letters and asked someone at the MS Society what it meant. Itkoff was allegedly told that pronouns were meant to help the MS Society be "inclusive."
"At the end of the day, end of the week, I got an email from [an MS Society representative] saying that they were sorry but had to ask me to step down as a volunteer for the MS Society," Itkoff said.
The decision sparked widespread backlash after the Libs of TikTok interview was released. Hundreds of people flooded the reply sections on the MS Society's X, formerly Twitter, posts. Many pledged to stop donating to the organization.
"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. 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?" entrepreneur Spike Cohen asked the MS Society on social media.
The MS Society confirmed to The National Desk Thursday that Itkoff was asked to step away from the organization because she made "statements that were viewed as not aligning with our policy of inclusion." The non-profit even doubled down on the intent behind its original decision, confirming that its staff had "acted with the best of intentions" when asking Itkoff to step away.
The organization says it plans to "reach out to Fran," but it is unclear whether or not she will be allowed to volunteer for the MS Society again.
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