In her letter, Driscoll wrote that Salem has had “a long and positive relationship with Gordon College over the years” and she was saddened to cut ties with the school. But she told Lindsay, “I hope you realize how hurtful and offensive these ‘behavioral standards’ are to members of the greater Salem LGBT community, some of whom are Gordon alumni, staff and/or students.”

Salem officials declared Wednesday they will end a contract allowing Gordon College to use the city-owned Old Town Hall because of the Christian school’s opposition to expected federal hiring protection for gays and lesbians.

Mayor Kimberley Driscoll, who also cited the college’s longstanding policies prohibiting gay activities among students, said Gordon’s policies violate a city ordinance prohibiting Salem from contracting with entities that discriminate.

But she said it would be “even more troubling” to have the city do business with “an institution that enables, and now advocates for, discrimination against the [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] community.”

“As mayor, I most certainly cannot let that stand,” Driscoll wrote in a letter to D. Michael Lindsay, president of Gordon, located in nearby Wenham.

Last week, Lindsay was among 14 religious leaders who wrote to the White House requesting an exemption to an upcoming executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating in their hiring based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The letter upset dozens of students, faculty, and alumni of the college, including more than 100 who signed a letter to the White House in support of the rules banning discrimination. An online petition calling for Lindsay to reverse the college’s position had received 2,950 signatures by Wednesday afternoon.

Lindsay defended his position this week, saying his request for an exemption is about supporting religious freedom.

In her letter, Driscoll wrote that Salem has had “a long and positive relationship with Gordon College over the years” and she was saddened to cut ties with the school.

But she told Lindsay, “I hope you realize how hurtful and offensive these ‘behavioral standards’ are to members of the greater Salem LGBT community, some of whom are Gordon alumni, staff and/or students.”

Driscoll said in a phone interview Wednesday that she had spoken to Lindsay before sending her letter. But the Gordon president failed to “adequately address the concerns we have.”

“We’re definitely very troubled by the recent actions by Gordon College,” she said. “Their current behavioral standards are discriminatory both on campus and off campus.”

The college’s website lists policies for students, faculty, and staff that ban them from engaging in “homosexual practice,” on or off campus. The standards also forbid sex outside marriage, drunkenness, blasphemy, profanity, theft, and dishonesty.

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