Gay teens in Georgia are being expelled from private Christian schools that are using a local law to raise money in a way that is so shrouded in mystery that the Society of Professional Journalists has awarded the law the Black Hole Award, for “the most heinous violations of the public’s right to know”:
“Now a sweet-faced sophomore with big blue eyes and a wry sense of humor, Tristan, who asks that we not use his real name, tells me this over fried cheese and Buffalo wings at a Chili’s 20 minutes from the midsize Georgia town where he lives. He’s here with two friends, a junior who asks to go by Emily and a senior who lets me use his real name, Jason, because he’ll have graduated before anyone will read this. Though there’s a Chili’s closer to their homes, they’ve requested to meet here because if authorities at their school learned they were gay, they would not just be punished, they would be expelled.
“Many Christian schools in Georgia and across the nation have similar policies, sometimes explicitly written into a pledge that students or their parents must sign when they enroll. At certain schools, a student need not even engage in acts of sexual ‘impurity’; simply identifying as gay or acting in support of a gay friend can lead to dismissal. ‘The Academy reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to refuse admission of an applicant and/or to discontinue enrollment of a student . . . participating in, promoting, supporting or condoning pornography, sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bisexual activity; or displaying an inability or resistance to support . . . the qualities and characteristics required of a Biblically based and Christ-like lifestyle,’ reads the ‘Academy/Home Partnering Agreement’ at Providence Christian in Lilburn, Georgia, a school with religious underpinnings very similar to those at the school Tristan attends. ‘No ‘immoral act’ or ‘identifying statements’ concerning fornication, adultery, homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality or pornography will be tolerated,’ warns the Cherokee Christian Schools in Woodstock, Georgia. ‘Such behavior will constitute grounds for expulsion.’”
