Two men have asserted they were forced to yank their 7-year-old daughter out of her private Christian school after she openly spoke in class about her parents being gay.
The girl in question — neither her name nor the last names of her parents are being printed to protect their privacy — was allegedly sternly reprimanded by administrators, who insisted she never speak of such things again, or she’ll be expelled.
Brendan, one of her fathers, only came out recently. He initially enrolled his daughter at Foundation Christian College with his ex-wife:
“I was told that they don’t promote ‘gay’ at the school and [my daughter] was unable to talk about my life between [my partner] and me. She could mention my name, but she couldn’t talk about us being gay or relating to us as a couple, so … we were forced to say that she wasn’t allowed to talk about Daddy or [my partner] at all.”
“I told them that I expected my daughter to be able to talk about home life like any other kid in the class.”
Brendan claims the principal, Andrew Newhouse, told him he felt fooled at the interview.
“He said to me that ‘If we knew you were gay at the interview you would never have got in this school.’”
Related: Things People Ask Gay Dads (But Probably Shouldn’t)
The two men decided to yank her from FCC and enroll her in public school to avoid further harassment.
“Why does my daughter have to go through this and lose her best friends due to the person I am?” Brendan asked. “I carry a lot of guilt and I hate that my daughter has to deal with her dad not being accepted.”
Newhouse told Mandura Mail that children of same-sex parents are indeed not welcome at the school.
“The [school] board are firm in their view that families have a mother and father who raise children jointly. The board also has a strong view that families with same-sex parents do not support a Christian world view. I mentioned to the parent that if his daughter was to continue this topic of discussion with her peers, then it would be in both his and his daughter’s interests to move to a school that would support his world view.”
Newhouse further elucidated to 9 News, saying the girl was openly discussing “her disappointment with Tony Abbott, the then-prime minister, not allowing her dad and his partner to marry.”
In a letter to parents, he wrote that the “Christian values being taught in the classroom were being undermined. It’s not helpful to confuse children at such a young age with complex and controversial issues.”
“She’s the one who brought it up,” argues Kim Simes, Midwest regional manager for the national nonprofit Family Equality Council,
so clearly it’s not confusing to a 7-year-old.”
She tells Yahoo Parenting:
“I think as adults, we’re the ones who muck it up and make these issues controversial. The kids are fine with it. That’s one of the worst forms of bullying there is — to be given the message of ‘your family isn’t worthy,’ and that this is not a safe place to talk about it. [It’s] horrific, and it breaks my heart to know that school officials, who are supposed to have the best interest of kids in mind, are using tactics like that.”
Despite the fact that it’s a Christian school, many parents disagree with the administration’s stance. They’ve emailed the school or posted their views on Facebook.
More than 20,000 have signed a Change.org petition, which urgse the local Minister for Education in Australia to “ban schools rejecting kids based on homophobia,” especially since the private school receives “millions of taxpayer dollars.”
H/t: LGBTQ Nation
Creig Stearne
Why would they put her in some nut bag Christian school which teaches hate.
Paul
“More than 20,000 have signed a Change.org petition, which urgse the local Minister for Education in Australia to “ban schools rejecting kids based on homophobia,” especially since the private school receives ‘millions of taxpayer dollars.'” Great Idea!
Melissa Michelle White
Private Christian school, what would you expect?
corey
WHYYYYYYYY do gays keep putting their kids in these schools? There are plenty of gay friendly Christian churches and i am sure they can help them find a gay friendly church. What do they expect, they know they are not wanted, are despised, some even want gays dead, with no rights. you would think this would be one of the things theyd look into, before their kids go through the actions from the kids and school
sportsguy1983
It is a PRIVATE RELIGIOUS. School with their own rules and values. This should not have come as a surprise. As long as they are not receiving public funds then they can impose their own religious beliefs. The parents do not have to enroll their child there.
Douglas Schlitz
Interesting how a so called religion is so filled with hate !
BigG
Parents fault for placing their kid in a religious school. What do you expect?
alphacentauri
why would anyone that’s LGBT and who has kids put them into a private school anyway?
Glücklich
@sportsguy1983:
True.
I’m amazed, though, these same schools think that a man who may have lived 2,000 years ago could walk on water, turn water to wine, feed a throng with a handful of old fish bread, make the crippled walk, rise from the dead, and wait around to end the world – any day now, right? – AND tell children to drink his blood and that a cracker is his body…all of *THAT* is well within the grasp of children but two dads would flip the kiddies out.
Ruhlmann
The bigger question is why is a “private School” receiving taxpayer money?
FRE0
Here in the U.S. probably a religious school would not be permitted to accept government funds. Taxpayers should not have to support religious teachings with which they may not agree.
NoCagada
@Creig Stearne: AMEN!
Michael Elsasser
Maybe all their gay friends and their gay friends should pay the school a visit?
empclsr
These parents are complete assholes!!!! They KNEW that they were not truthful “Brendan, one of her fathers, only came out recently. He initially enrolled his daughter at Foundation Christian College with his ex-wife” and now he want’s to make a deal out of this? Tired of hearing these “NEW QUEERS” having a fit about religion, screw them….when did they think that religion cared about them??
Rochelle Flores
Oh your going to hell but yes we will take your money for tuition… figures
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
I don’t get gay people and religion. But, I guess. But, if you’re going to believe in that stuff and you’re going to participate in that stuff and you get discriminated against, don’t be surprised.
Giancarlo85
@sportsguy1983: I’m not surprised at how you want to excuse homophobia. Put aside your BS argument for a moment. These private schools take public funding (at least in Australia).
Segregated restaurants and estabilshments existed? Should have blacks just avoided them? Same dumb logic different day.
Daniel-Reader
A Christian group that discriminates is an oxymoron, since discrimination is the anti-thesis of Jesus’ teachings. A Christian group that discriminates is either an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish group that is too afraid to admit it, or a KKK “Christian” group.
Josie Jandres
Absurd
Maleko
@sportsguy1983: Like everybody else commenting, it is a mystery why gay people would have anything to do with the nutcases in these christian schools. There are always better options than to tell your kid that you can’t talk about your parents because her school doesn’t approve. What does that tell your daughter? She should be ashamed of her parents. Get her out of there, even if she wasn’t going to get kicked out; that atmosphere is toxic and will prevent her growth as a normal, loving and compassionate person; the values her parents want to raise her with do not exist anywhere in the evangelical christian world.
Billysees
@Douglas Schlitz:
” Interesting how a so called religion is so filled with hate ! ”
It’s interesting only because Christianity has a reputation for being a religion about ‘love’. So when hatred becomes obvious, there’s a certain shock value.
dustashed
Why enrol in private christian schools? Because they are the best schools around, at least that holds true where i come from. Why let the actions of a few adults dissuade you from providing your child with a better educational opportunity?
Besides, the problem cant be solved if you just keep avoiding the schools that don’t accept you. You raise hell and make them accept you whether they like it or not. *cue and im telling you song by Jennifer hudson*
Cam
Sorry, if a school is receiving money from the government then they need to be following all government laws. You shouldn’t be allowed to take taxpayer money, then claim you are private.
Avery Alvarez
@sportsguy1983: I think you’re right
alphacentauri
@empclsr: See there’s always more to a story, no out person that’s proud about being LGBT would enroll their kid in a school like this unless they’re idiots like these two are.
DuMaurier
The issue of public funds going to religious schools aside (I know they do things differently in other countries), every time I see one of these headlines I STILL initially think it’s about a public school, and then I read the story and it’s about a school where anyone with a brain would expect this result. I mean, you read the school’s mission statement, its online profile, etc etc, BEFORE you enroll your kid or (if it’s a college) you enroll yourself, don’t you?
But you do it anyway, and the result is monotonously and predictably the same, every time. Are people doing this on purpose, FOR the eventual headlines?
stranded
Usually i would ask why they enrolled their daughter in a Christian School, but it’s not just these two men raising this girl, the ex-wife has a say, and usually a mother has more say in the raising of a child than father, especially between divorced parents.