Kentucky Christian academy expels student over rainbow birthday picture thinking 'she was gay', claims lawsuit
The parents of a 15-year-old Kentucky girl have filed a lawsuit against a Christian academy, claiming that their daughter was expelled from the establishment over a picture of her wearing a rainbow sweater and coordinating birthday cake, and that the school "believed she was gay."
Kimberley Alford and Mark Kenney, the parents of Kayla Kenney, sued Whitefield Academy, Louisville on Thursday, alleging a breach of contract for the teen's personal records and for not following their own policy on discipline, reports state.
The lawsuit, filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court, said: "Everybody’s journey is individual. If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy. If you fall in love with a girl, you fall in love with a girl. The fact that [Whitefield Academy] consider[s] is a disease [or a sin] says more about them than it does about homosexuality. Essentially, the school expelled K.K. because they believed she was gay. As such, in Whitefield’s view, it would be difficult to 'achieve the goal of [K.K.] becoming Christ-like'."
Kenney was expelled from school on January 5, and her family was told of it through email — a few days after the teen's rainbow birthday picture was posted on her mother's Facebook page.
The Head of School, Dr. Bruce Jacobson, sent an email to the parents "expelling Kayla from Whitefield immediately due to a post on social media," Alford said, according to the Daily Mail. She added that her expulsion was effective "immediately" for the picture that "demonstrates a posture of morality and cultural acceptance contrary to that of Whitefield Academy's beliefs." Alford's post about her daughter's birthday, however, did not allude to any link with the LGBTQ Pride movement, which bears the rainbow flag symbol.
The mother said that there was no meaning behind the birthday decoration or its meaning, stating that her daughter simply celebrated her birthday.
"[Kayla] loves to laugh and dance and that's just her. There was nothing intended by that and even when I went back and got the receipt from the bakery, it didn't say anything about representation, it just said assorted colors," Alford explained.
Whitefield Academy's code of conduct addressed sexual orientation, stating that if a student's behavior off-campus is not in life with the beliefs of the school, then the school can discipline the student.
The school, however, has denied expelling Kenney solely for the picture and alleged that she had violated its student code of conduct multiple times over the past two years.
"Inaccurate media reports are circling stating that the student in question was expelled from our school solely for a social media post. In fact, she has unfortunately violated our student code of conduct numerous times over the past two years," a statement read. "In the fall, we met with the student to give her a final chance to begin to adhere to our code of conduct. Unfortunately, she did not live up to the agreement, and therefore, has been expelled."
"Whitefield Academy is a Christian-based school with a 43-year history of educating students in a learning environment informed by our shared Christian values. All parents who enroll their children in our private school know up front that we ask the students to adhere to a lifestyle informed by our Christian beliefs," the statement added.