Calif. Kindergartener Kicked Out of Christian School for Having 2 Moms
A five-year-old San Diego, Calif. girl is at home, instead of starting off kindergarten with her friends, because her school, the Mt. Erie Christian Academy, refused to welcome her any longer because she has two moms, KGTV reports .
The child, who had attended Mt. Erie for pre-school and summer school was abruptly cut off when her parents were called in on the Friday before Labor Day, just before school started, where the pastor broke the news.
"It was heartbreaking, Sheena, who didn't want her last name to be used, told the news station. I didn't finish the conversation with them when they took us in the room because I just, I didn't want to look at them any longer. I just couldn't believe that they did that."
"They told us, oh this is not about your child, but it is about my child," the stay-at-home mom added.
The mothers are seeking an attorney to file a civil rights lawsuit against the school. When asked by the news team if it was discrimination to stop the child from attending because of her mothers, a woman who described herself as the school's director, said, "The Bible says homosexuality is a sin. We don't condone any sinful lifestyles."
KGTV got a copy of the school's parent and student handbook which was revised over the summer. Under the school's statement of nondiscrimination, the handbook declared the school's right to "refuse admission of an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student."
"This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, living in, condoning or supporting sexual immorality; practicing homosexual lifestyle or alternative gender identity; promoting such practices; or otherwise having the inability to support the moral principles of the school," the handbook continued, according to the news station.
"If we knew from the beginning that this was unacceptable, they didn't condone or believe in this, if it was such a big deal, we would have never started her off there," Sheena countered. "I would never put my child's emotional wellbeing in an unstable setting like that."
Mt. Erie, as a private instution, does have a First Amendment right to bar membership based on religious beliefs, San Diego attorney Eugene Iredale pointed out to the news station, however Sheena says that the family is prepared to fight their case.
"I want my baby to be safe when she grows up. I don't want her to ever have to be discriminated against because of her lifestyle. That's not fair," the mother said.
Meanwhile, a little girl is sitting at home, sometimes coloring by herself, as she waits to get into a new school.
"I miss my friends. I miss my teachers," the child told the news station.
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When is the LGBT community going to get smart and stop trying to send their kids to private schools that dont want them? There is no rule that says these bigots have to accept your kids. This is America, and parochial schools are free to be as horrible as they want to be in their acceptance policies. I blame the parents for not figuring this out yet.
If the parents and the child are all Christian, then I don't see what the hell the school has to complain about beyond it's refusal to conduct business in this century.
Still, I don't think the parents should sue. Unless they can find that the school receives any government money in any way, shape or form, they'll lose. If they don't receive any government money or assistance in any program they have, then they have a right to be as bigoted as any private school in America. Religious or not.
There'll be no lawsuit and even if there was there would be no punishment to the parents because the school had allowed their child to attend pre-school and Summer school, knowing that she was a child with two mothers and did not object. Then the school changed the rules with no notification, so the parents had every right to expect their child would be accepted in kindergarten. The mothers would still lose in court, but as for punishment to them for suing? Not a snowballs chance in hell.