UPDATE: There is now a petition at Change.org: “The Master’s School: Stop kicking out gay and lesbian students!“
A private Christian school has kicked out a 12th grader for being a lesbian. The Master’s School in West Simsbury, Connecticut interrogated Rachel Aviles about her sexual orientation, then, when she acknowledged she was a lesbian, they forced her out. The school’s website says its motto is, “Veritas Vos Liberabit which translates to ‘the truth shall set you free’ from John 8:32.” Evidently for some, the truth of being LGBT sets you free to pursue other educational opportunities.
“Aviles said she was encouraged to withdraw, rather than be expelled,” writes Susan Campbell at CT NOW. ”It was a not thinly veiled threat,” said Beth Miller, who met Aviles when the student applied to Hartford Youth Scholars Foundation in ’07.
Legally, private schools — secular and otherwise —- have more leeway as to whom to accept within their ranks. The school’s meadmaster, Jon Holley, said he wouldn’t discuss Aviles because of privacy concerns, but Aviles’ former coach, Heather Lodovico, said when she withdrew, Aviles sent her coach a text message.
“She texted me and said something like ‘They kicked me out,’ and I made a joke, ‘What, are you pregnant?’ and she said, ‘No, worse. I’m gay,’” said Lodovico.
The coach said she immediately got on the phone to see if the decision could be reversed, but no.
“She’s a fantastic kid,” said Lodovico. “My reaction was: ‘Wow. Your God’s really small.’ Whether it’s a sin or not, take that out of the picture, and this is still wrong. I think God’s up there shaking His head going, ‘Really? Really?’
Campbell adds,
Still, when Aviles sat down to talk about her leaving Master’s, the first thing she said was she didn’t want Master’s to look bad.
“Just because you’ve been wronged doesn’t mean you have the right to wrong back,” said the newest member of Watkinson Class of ’12.
Oh! The irony! The non-believing high school senior, turning the other cheek. That sounds downright Christian, doesn’t it?
I think Aviles deserves a student of the year award for bravery and honesty and for acting honorably.
The Master’s School website offers this message from Headmaster Jon F. Holley:
Our mission is “Education from the Inside Out.” Simply put, we recognize that God has created each child with a unique set of gifts, abilities and needs, and that in light of that design He has a unique purpose and calling for each one.
In pursuit of our mission, then, we endeavor to create a learning community filled with qualified and committed teachers and staff who recognize the high calling placed upon them. Those educators, then, seek to build Godly relationships with their students, and in the context of those relationships integrate truth into their particular academic disciplines. In addition, every activity – from athletics to art, from theater to peer tutoring, from science labs to the dining hall, from music to mission trips – serves to reinforce the message that your child has been uniquely designed by God and has a unique call on his/her life.
The Master’s School community is a place where learning leads to serving. It is our conviction that the aim of all education is a life prepared and positioned to serve God by serving others. Therefore, it is by the fruit we see in the lives of our students that we know our mission has been accomplished.
(Hat tip: Towleroad)
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A truly remarkable girl for facing the situation with such grace and honor. If it had been myself, I would have wanted a crusade against the school–proof that she's a better person than I, and by far a better person than those who forced her out.
I hope she thrives in her new school, and that, if she doesn't already know, she will realize that the entire world isn't made up of bigots, and there are a vast myriad of people who will accept her as the wonderful person she is, regardless of her sexuality.
What a sad story.
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