On Thursday,
The Guardian reported that a private religious school in Louisiana expelled a five-year-old kindergartner — because her parents are a same-sex couple.
"Emily and Jennie Parker said they were informed by school officials at the Bible Baptist Academy in DeQuincy, Louisiana, during a meeting with the school’s director and a pastor that their same-sex relationship did not follow the teachings of the school and that they would need to find a new school for their daughter, Zoey," reported Gloria Oladipo.
'We got called into the principal’s office for a meeting, they informed us that Zoey wouldn’t be able to go to school there anymore because of our lifestyle choices," parent Jennifer Parker told
local news station KPLC.
"Emily Parker, 28, said that the meeting took place only two days before the school year started," the report continued. "During the conference, she and her wife also were told that, as a religious-based school, the school would teach students that marriage was between a man and a woman. The Parkers recently adopted Zoey, who is Jennie’s niece, after her father died in a workplace accident in September 2020. 'She lost her father, she lost her mother and now she’s losing her school which she loves very much,' said Jennie to KPLC."
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According to the report, the incident has triggered an outpouring of support from the community, with "several offers from other local Christian schools for Zoey to start her kindergarten year."
Bible Baptist Academy defended its actions in a statement, saying, "As a Baptist academy, we are also committed to provide an environment that is consistent with the beliefs that we hold. We want our students to not only know our beliefs, but we want them to see them as well. Regarding personal relationships, we hold that those relationships, whether in dating or in marriage, should be between a man and a woman."
This news comes as Republican lawmakers around the country have set their sights on eliminating LGBTQ acceptance from the public school system, as well, with some states like Florida adopting draconian "Don't Say Gay" laws. GOP officials claim these laws are solely about preventing age-inappropriate sexual content from being shared with children, but teachers report the laws are
chilling any mention of same-sex relationships altogether.
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