Politics High School Senior Comes "Out" and Was Expelled

<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>High school senior came 'out' - and was expelled

By Elizabeth Clarke, Palm Beach Post Religion Writer
Saturday, October 25, 2003

JUPITER -- Jeffrey Woodard's parents never took him to church. They certainly didn't ever plan to send him to a religious high school. But when he was 14, Jeffrey asked his mom if he could attend Jupiter Christian School. He told her he felt God leading him there.

Carol Gload liked the idea. She thought it would help Jeff spiritually and academically, and he started after Thanksgiving of his freshman year. As a senior this year, he was especially looking forward to singing in the choir and Bible class.

But on the third day of school, his Bible teacher -- who is also the school chaplain -- pulled him out of class with a personal question. Jeffrey said the teacher assured him they were having a confidential conversation, and then asked whether it was true that Jeffrey was a homosexual.

"I told him, 'Yes, I am gay,' " Jeffrey says. "I was just being totally honest with him because I don't lie."

Two days later, he was expelled.

In a short meeting at the school, he and his mother say, they were offered the options of counseling to change Jeff's sexual orientation, voluntary withdrawal or expulsion. The first two choices weren't acceptable to them, leaving only expulsion.

"I was just shocked," says Jeffrey, who was not public about his sexuality at school. "I just couldn't believe what I was hearing."

His mom is outraged -- and sad that her son had to go through this. She and Jeffrey filed a lawsuit against the school Tuesday.

"He was crushed," Gload says, tears welling in her eyes. "He was devastated. It was very hard."

But it's something that could happen at other Christian schools in Florida, even those that accept public money through the state's voucher program as Jupiter Christian does.

The law doesn't prohibit sexual discrimination at private schools, according to Howard Burke, executive director of the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, which represents 170 conservative Christian schools in Florida.

Schools that accept disabled students using vouchers must comply with a federal code banning discrimination based on race, color or national origin -- but not sexuality, he says.

"Christian schools do not have to compromise their biblical standards to accept a child on a voucher," Burke says.

The state Department of Education did not respond to repeated requests to confirm that.

Gload disagrees with Jupiter Christian's stance on homosexuality but believes the school is entitled to it. The policy, however, should be explicitly stated in the school's documents for students and parents to consider, she says. And she doesn't think it should be able to accept vouchers.

"I have trouble with them taking any nickel from my pocket to support their discrimination," she says. "If this is their policy, they need to put it out there."
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Read the rest of the article here.

Any thoughts?
 
:banghead: :cuss: :madfire: :madfire: :stick:
that really pisses me off. i HATE homophobia. who really cares what your sexual preference is. that kid. i have to say, he has guts to come out.
 
frankly I'm disgusted by this, not only by the fact that he was expelled for his sexuality but that it was legal.

I honestly don't know which sickens me more.
 
What the hell? :shocked:

First of all, that teacher is a rats ass... yeah private conversation apparently means nothing. And then the fact that he's expelled? :angry: :wtf: I mean that's the such a prejudice thing... that's like expelling someone from school because they're black. Some people are just bigots... ::sighs::
 
Frogboy_Lives said:
frankly I'm disgusted by this, not only by the fact that he was expelled for his sexuality but that it was legal.

I honestly don't know which sickens me more.
that's exactly how i feel! does that mean i can legally start a private school in Florida and let only white people in? or only people born in the US? that is soooo stupid! :banghead:
 
xdancer said:
that is truly horrible, but the school does have a right to do that, because they are a private organization.
Yes, they do. In some private schools, corperal punishment (think paddle and hitting...) is still allowed.

But I think the main point is that the school CHAPLAIN... who's supposed to be a person with high morals... broke confidentiality. That'd be like going into confession, and having the guy who listened to you report you to the police or something.
 
not to put a partition between Catholic Christians and Christians, but if he attended a Catholic high school, he would never of had been expelled. he would've been able to "come out" earlier, because Catholic high schools do not discriminate nor encourage homosexuality, they merely make homosexuals feel comfortable about their sexual orientation by severely punishing homophobia.
 
the_alliance said:
not to put a partition between Catholic Christians and Christians, but if he attended a Catholic high school, he would never of had been expelled. he would've been able to "come out" earlier, because Catholic high schools do not discriminate nor encourage homosexuality, they merely make homosexuals feel comfortable about their sexual orientation by severely punishing homophobia.
eeehhh not true. my religion teacher at my catholic HS is probably the one who created the phrase "god made adam and eve not adam and steve". he says it all the time. i hate him for it.

and this story! what a riot! :banghead: I hate that school and that teacher!!!! i think they should be the ones burning in hell! :madfire: homophobia sucks! :angry:
 
WOW they are evil...

but that is just like my friend's parents! they are super christian and they say it's in the 10 commandments that you can't be lesbian or gay... i don't see where
 
Alias_Girl_624 said:
the_alliance said:
not to put a partition between Catholic Christians and Christians, but if he attended a Catholic high school, he would never of had been expelled. he would've been able to "come out" earlier, because Catholic high schools do not discriminate nor encourage homosexuality, they merely make homosexuals feel comfortable about their sexual orientation by severely punishing homophobia.
eeehhh not true. my religion teacher at my catholic HS is probably the one who created the phrase "god made adam and eve not adam and steve". he says it all the time. i hate him for it.
Your teacher's a butt :P But Catholic schools in general would not discriminate on sexuality.

Although I think it's wrong disallow someone from attending a school based on sexuality, the school may have the right to expel him if it's their policy and it's legal. But it doesn't make it morally right.
 
The expulsion was completely wrong .... it is BS to say that he violated school policy since they don't have one applicable that he violated.
I mean ... lol ... while it is *legal* the school is full of themselves to say that his *actions* warranted an expulsion.

Yes, it is ironic that the chaplain violated the trust that the student had with him. Although I'm neither religious nor have ever been a Christian, I would expect someone who is a teacher to keep a 'private' conversation private. The Chaplain compelled the student to give a yes or no answer to a personal question of which is a sensitive topic .... the student trusted the teacher to keep this low profile if not completely private.

I cannot say that someone within my own religious/cultural background would be as homophobic. I do have some pretty racist family members ..... I believe that I'm too culturally assimilated to be religious ....
 
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