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'Expose Christian Schools' trend as alumni share traumatic ordeals at alma maters

'Girls were told that their degree/career/life meant nothing if they didn’t do everything specifically to support their future husband,' said a user

A popular hashtag trending on Twitter at present is #ExposeChristianSchools. Using the hashtag, various users have taken to the social media platform to share their personal experiences of discrimination and hatred at their schools. The tweets detail outright offensive, appalling behavior that many had to face in these supposed 'Christian schools'.

The hashtag began trending after Twitter user Chrissy Stroop, who goes by the Twitter name of "Chrissy is judging vaccine refusers" -- tweeted, "Are you also someone who attended Christian schools as a kid who wants the public to understand how extreme and authoritarian they are? Please share your stories and memories using the hashtag #ExposeChristianSchools." Stroop's Twitter bio reads, "Freelance writer #WithAPhD in Russian history. That #exvangelical your pastor warned you about. Coeditor of Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the Church". 

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The tweets reveal that there is a legacy of shaming, discrimination, and misinformation being spread, that people have experienced in these schools. As the hashtag recently picked up pace, Twitter filled up with stories of misogyny, homophobia, racism and several forms of intolerance that students have had to face in their schools. Many of these incidents, which are emotionally scarring experiences and memories, occurred even as school officials watched. People are of the opinion that these are the kind of trends we need to expose a world where educational institutions, which are supposed to be our "safe spaces", continue to normalize what is straight-up inappropriate and unacceptable.

'Holocaust denial, contempt for democracy, and hatred of pluralism'

"My alma mater's curriculum was filled with and informed by the works of men who promoted stoning, homophobia, misogyny, bigotry, Holocaust denial, contempt for democracy, and hatred of pluralism. We were trained to be soldiers in a war #ExposeChristianSchools," one user wrote. "A kid at my private high school got bullied so bad for being gay he had to leave the school. Like even the teachers were bullying him. I was so terrified to come out myself that I waited until college #ExposeChristianSchools," wrote another user.

"Girls were told that their degree/career/life meant nothing if they didn’t do everything specifically to support their future husband. Which is why many of us married young, were abused, & are now divorced & never setting foot in church again. #ExposeChristianSchools," wrote one user, while another wrote, "I was taught that having a female body was shameful, that I should feel shame because just being female was enough to cause men to sin. #ExposeChristianSchools."

When did the hashtag first trend?

The hashtag #ExposeChristianSchools first trended in January 2019 when Karen Pence, Vice President Mike Pence's wife, reportedly took up a job at Virginia's Immanuel Christian School. Many pointed out that the school has a policy refusing admission to those "who participate in or condone homosexual activity." People criticized her for joining an educational institution that engaged in blatant discriminatory practices. 

However, when Mike Pence and The National Review's David French Karen Pence defended Karen's move, writer Chrissy Stroop came up with the hashtag #ExposeChristianSchools. In a tweet, Stroop wrote, "Hey fellow Christian school grads, let’s tell @VP and @DavidAFrench how traumatizing those bastions of bigotry are. Use the hashtag #ExposeChristianSchools."

Trending yet again in 2021, the hashtag has been allowing more people -- especially women, queer, and people of color -- to finally speak the truth.