Administrators at a Louisiana Christian school expelled a five-year-old child because they believed her lesbian parents did not uphold the school’s principles.
Just two days before she was scheduled to begin kindergarten at the Bible Baptist Academy in DeQuincy, Zoey Parker, age 5, was fired.
The same-sex couple who have been married since 2016 and are her parents, Emily, 28, and Jennie Parker, 31, claim that the school’s headmaster and pastor summoned them into a meeting on Saturday.
According to Jennie, “They informed us that Zoey wouldn’t be allowed to attend school there any longer due to our lifestyle choices.”
After the Parkers adopted Zoey this summer, Bible Baptist Academy said they were no longer interested in teaching her pre-K. Zoey is Emily’s niece, and her father passed away in 2020.
The Parkers originally published their story on Facebook, and since then, they have received an outpouring of support from the local community, including assurances that Zoey will be accepted into multiple Christian schools in the region.
This week, Zoey began attending the Hamilton Christian School in Lake Charles after finally being accepted into one of those institutions.
There are decent Christians in the world. They are the reason we retained our religion,’ Jennie said NBC News.
“The whole community of DeQuincy has shown us what it takes to be a decent Christian and to not preach hatred like this.”
In 2020, when he was just 22 years old, Zoey’s father perished at work in an industrial accident. Unknown reasons for her mother’s absence from her childhood are also unknown.
Emily and Jennie legally adopted her on August 3.
She lost her mother, her father, and now she is in danger of losing her beloved school, Jennie added.
Despite attending an open house at the school and even purchasing Zoey’s outfits, according to Emily, the school abruptly altered its stance three days following the adoption.
The pastor approached us in the conference room and began discussing gender identity, as well as how they teach that marriage is between a man and a woman and that they didn’t believe this was a suitable match, according to Emily.
Emily said that at first she felt both humiliated and ashamed.
We’ve never had our connection discussed so directly, she said. “Our relationship and marriage have always seemed organic.
We have always felt that we are two individuals who adore each other thanks to the support of our family. A hefty smack in the face, indeed.
By the time Emily initially posted the tale on Facebook that Saturday night, those emotions had rapidly changed to fury and even thankfulness.
You’re aware of what you just taught my kid, right? How harshly critical your church really is.
How merciless and unyielding you are,” Emily said. “I was upset, wounded, and ashamed, but I’m no longer.
I am grateful now. I’m grateful that you won’t try to make my small human’s brain work like yours.
Although the Bible instructs us to “love everyone with the love of God despite their personal choices,” the school added in a statement on its website that it is devoted to ensuring sure pupils “not only know our values, but we want them to see them as well.”
We believe that all intimate relationships, including those that result in marriage or dating, should be between a man and a woman.
There will be instances when our dedication to defending our Christian ideals conflicts with those of other people.
The school stated, “This should not be taken to mean that we have any animosity or hostility against them.”
In an addendum to her Facebook post, Emily said that the Parkers’ refusal to sign a statement of values stating that their house was free of “violence” was the reason Zoey was denied permission to return.
No such paperwork, according to Emily, has ever been given to them.
We received no documents nor an opportunity. We were never supplied with anything to sign, so how could we have refused? We could’ve signed it,
I apologise for the sudden uproar, but my marriage was never the focus of this. It belonged to my girl.