A few hours’ drive south of the Exodus national office, an 18-year-old gay Christian student and his mother are suing his Jupiter, Fla., private high school after it outed and expelled him.
From the Sun-Sentinel:
Jeffrey Woodard said Jupiter Christian School expelled him three
days after his instructor pulled him out of Bible class on Aug. 15 and asked
him in confidence if he is gay.
When Woodard answered “yes,” a school official called his mother and demanded that Woodard submit to ex-gay counseling, withdraw from school, or face expulsion.
“It was just completely wrong,” said Woodard, who had attended the
school for three years, adding that the teacher “outed” him before he was
ready.
The school subsequently declined to provide a written explanation for the expulsion; the school’s student handbook does not offer homosexuality as a justification for expulsion.
Human Rights Council Chairman Dan Hall said he has dealt with a
“dozen” identical issues regarding gay students and private schools over the
past two years.Gload is the first parent to go public with her story, he said.
Several years ago, an Exodus board member, Tom Cole, sought to forge a cooperative effort with GLSEN to stop bullying in schools. He was criticized by other Exodus board members and ministry leaders — and spurned by GLSEN. He later withdrew his open offer, as GLSEN’s permissive views on sex education and youth sexuality became apparent and made headlines.
Today, Exodus neither offers nor endorses programs to discourage the bullying, or expulsion, of gay youth — closeted or otherwise.
Also covered at: billandkent.com
Nov 12. Update: The school has responded to the lawsuit, accusing the student of poor grades and telling other students about his sexual orientation. The school says “sexual immorality” is forbidden in the student handbook, and reassures the public that it is not antigay, just anti-sin.
Hey, MIke… like the new format.
Check out http://www.heartstrong.org; you may even want to add them to your list of links. They’re an organization that reaches out to GLBT youth specifically in religious schools, hoping to prevent the very situation you detailed here. I’ve met Marc and Todd in person, and they’re great guys with a very worthwhile mission. You might consider them a resource on such stories in the future.
Keep up the great work.
Chris
Yes, Michael, the site looks wonderful!
What a terribly sad story. Perhaps that anonymous school counselor would have a better time working for Jupiter.
At any rate, I hope the student wins. Good for the mother for standing up for her child.
“the school’s student handbook does not offer homosexuality as a justification for expulsion”
Sounds to me like a case for breach of contract.
BTW, I hate the new format. The old format was barely tolerable.
I also have to wonder whether there is any law in Florida against coercing a student to undergo treatment for a disease as a criterion of attending school. There have been many battles with parents of children who have been labelled as ADHD or ADD but who do not want to medicate their children. I have to believe the “pro-family” movement, with its emphasis on parental rights, has come down on the side of letting parents decide – why would this not be different? Or more importantly, as with the Equal Access law that eventually required schools to allow GSAs, but was originally intended to allow Bible Clubs, could the “pro-family” movement have unwittingly provided the very means for this kid to sue the school – if you can’t force treatment for ADHD, you certainly can’t force treatment for a “condition” that would not disrupt classroom learning.
Raj, if you have any constructive suggestions for the blog, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
I will, Mike.
This headline caught my attention:
Gay students rarely problem at Christian schools
In an email to the reporter, I said:
Talk about a perfect opportunity for Exodus. Their to-do list jumps right out of the article:
Letter to Howard Burke, Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools: Tutorial on the role of choice in responding to, but not creating, attractions; unhelpfulness of labeling homosexuality as an “abomination”; harrassment and suicide prevention strategies.
Note to Kings Academy, West Palm Beach: Exodus is available to speak to your school since you lost your voice.
Phone call to Rick Heers, Summit Christian high school principal: Kudos for separating sex from attractions, and for the non-policy on harrassment which mirrors Exodus’ approach.
Pray for Superintendent Leonard Stob from Lake Worth Christian. How dare he suggest that a gay student would not be a discipline problem in a Christian school?
Great article Steve. Although I did get a chuckle at Rev. Alfredo Hernandez statement. Apparently they must have changed things in the last ten years cause I remember going on my then girlfriend’s prom at an all girls Catholic high school where a lesbian student brought her girlfriend to the prom. If there was any thought that maybe they were just friends confronting each other for lacking a boyfriend on the senior prom, one of them was dressed in a tuxedo.
You know I really do not get why they expelled him. Why risk a lawsuit even if think you are going to win? Why loose an student? Why risk the press? Most people would just let it slide. Prejudice is an irrational beast that hurts the victim as well as the perpetrator .
My perception of the conservative Christian school that my kids attend is that conformity is valued more than faith. A blanket of niceness covers much of what happens, but is often worn thin by underlying tensions and held in place by the assumption that diverging or disagreeing is unseemly.
When I asked the administrators there about diversity of faith, they said certainly there was respect for differing points of view. To prove it, they pointed out that some of the families there believed that speaking in tongues was essential to salvation, some did not, and yet they all got along!
They seemed to see the school as a tiny oasis of good which needed high walls to be safe from the scary non-Christian world surrounding it.
An open letter to the christian school in Ontario California that just expelled a 14 year old girl because they found her parents (together for 22 years) are gay.
[ You can write them yourself at
superintendent@ocschools.org ] :
Thank you for doing so much to educate people
regarding God’s Law. When someone tries to defend the
homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind
them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an
abomination… End of debate. I do need some advice
from you, however, regarding some other elements of
God’s Laws and how to follow them.
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves,
both male and female, provided they are purchased from
neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this
applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you
clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as
sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what
do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman
while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness
– Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have
tried asking, but most women take offense.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I
know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord –
Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the
odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the
Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. The passage clearly states he
should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill
him myself?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating
shellfish is an abomination – Lev. 11:10, it is a
lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree.
Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of
abomination?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar
of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit
that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be
20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed,
including the hair around their temples, even though
this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should
they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a
dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play
football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by
planting two different crops in the same field, as
does his wife by wearing garments made of two
different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He
also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really
necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the
whole town together to stone them? – Lev.24:10-16.
Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private
family affair like we do with people who sleep with
their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
I know you have studied these things extensively and
thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so
I am confident you can help. I am also quite sure you
are not hypocritical, and would never cast the first
stone.
Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is
eternal and unchanging.