The parents were told a few days before the school year started that their daughter was not welcomed.
Mt. Erie Christian Academy in San Diego, California, informed the parents of a 5-year-old student that she was not welcomed at the school.
The little girl attended preschool and summer school at the academy before school administrators made the decision to call in her mothers.
Sheena and Lashaune were told that their daughter would not be able to attend the new school year because they are lesbians.
Sheena stated “If we knew from the beginning that this was unacceptable, they didn’t condone or believe in this, if it was such a big deal, we would have never started her off there. I would never put my child’s emotional wellbeing in an unstable setting like that.”
When contacted, the school director stated the school has a non-discrimination policy put in place. In response to being asked if the decision to not allow the daughter of a lesbian couple to attend was discriminatory, the director stated, “The Bible says homosexuality is a sin. We don’t condone any sinful lifestyles.”
The school’s parent student handbook states under it’s Values section that the school aims to “Teach students the importance of loving and respecting each other, because all people are valuable in God’s eyes, regardless of physical, social, economic, ethnic, or other factors.”
The couple is currently looking for an attorney to file a civil rights lawsuit.
However, a San Diego attorney stated “Religions and religious institutions, that do not in their activity receive public money, have the right to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation if that is part of their religious tradition.”
The Attorney, Eugene Iredale went on to state “Now the question is where do we draw the line? If you have a religion that believed in human sacrifice or amputation of the arm or the hand for theft, would we permit that in the interest of permitting the free practice of one’s religion? I don’t think so, and one could argue that psychologically this is as devastating to the little 5-year-old girl as some of those other vicious practices.”
He believes the US Supreme Court will have to decide a case like this one within coming years.
Sheena has said “I want my baby to be safe when she grows up. I don’t want her to ever have to be discriminated against because of her lifestyle. That’s not fair.”
Her daughter stated, “I miss my friends. I miss my teachers.”
Cathy Sakimura of the National Center for Lesbian Rights stated “This type of policy is out of touch with reality.” and that the dismissal of Sheena’s daughter from the school could nurture a culture of fear among children and thinking that it is not okay to be LGBT or divorced.