Christian School Reportedly Tells Teachers: Expel Gay Kids or Leave

A private Christian school in Missouri is reportedly asking its teachers to discriminate against gay students -- or leave.

Faculty members at Whitefield Academy, a PK-12 institution in Kansas City, are expected to sign a letter, sent about a week ago, agreeing to expel kids who are out as gay, reports The Kansas City Pitch. Those who don't sign won't be welcomed back.

The Pitch reports that at least three teachers refused to sign the letter and will not be returning to Whitefield next semester.

Dr. Quentin Johnston, the headmaster of "Kansas City's leading classical Christian school," denied the existence of the letter. However, in a statement, he told the Pitch that the school is asking parents and educators "to understand and consent to the standards outlined in our Statement of Faith and core documents, which have not been altered in several years."

"Our mission is to equip students to be Christ-honoring critical thinkers, clear communicators, and compassionate leaders, through the pursuit of academic excellence, in the tradition of classical Christian education," Johnston said. "We are a voluntary community committed to biblical principles."

Whitefield's handbook to teachers and students includes a "statement on marriage, sexuality, and gender identity." Among the bullet points:

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Genesis 1:26-27) Rejection of one's biological gender is a rejection of the image of God within that person.

We believe the term "marriage" has only one meaning and that is marriage sanctioned by God, which joins one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. (Genesis 2:24; Mark 10:6-8; Ephesians 5:25-33)

We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography, and attempting to change one's biological sex or otherwise acting upon any disagreement with one's biological sex) or advocacy of sexual immorality, is sinful and is therefore offensive to God. (Deuteronomy 22:5; I Thessalonians 4:1-12)

A Whitefield parent told the Pitch that while students are asked to agree to the school's "statement of faith" upon admission, she believes the school is moving to make a rejection of LGBTQ+ people more explicit.

"It's been unspoken, I suppose, up until now, and now they're now they're formalizing that in a way that makes me really uncomfortable," said the parent, who spoke under condition of anonymity. "We know the suicide rates for kids that are not in affirming families. And when I think about those same kids going to school and knowing that every adult in that school has signed a piece of paper saying they are not welcome there, it just hurts my heart to think about."