Barry McKeen, an administrator at Grace Christian School in Valrico, Florida, sent an email to the school’s parents in June explaining that, per the school’s policy, students who engage in gay and transgender “lifestyles” would be “asked to leave the school immediately.”
The email, which was leaked to NBC News , contained numerous quotes from the Bible justifying the policy, which is not uncommon in Christian schools. McKeen said the school has maintained the policy since the “early 1970s.”
“We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, transgender identity/lifestyle, self-identification, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful in the sight of God and the church (Genesis 2:24; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; I Corinthians 5:1; I Corinthians 6:9; I Thessalonians 4:2-7),” the email reportedly said. “Students who are found participating in these lifestyles will be asked to leave the school immediately.”
In an interview with Fox News , McKeen said he has received death threats since the initial report but vowed to keep the policy in place.
“If I backed down from something like this, I’m abandoning what God has said is the truth. I …. kind of rack my brain to like, ‘How is this hard for people to understand? This is what God said.’ This is one of the many reasons we have a Christian school, and we’re not going to abandon this policy,” he told the outlet. “God has spoken on these issues.”
The backlash over the policy has led to at least one student being pulled from the school.
“It’s funny for us to … be painted as hateful. We have fielded hundreds, probably thousands of phone calls Thursday, Friday, over the weekend, with just some of the most outrageous things: People threatening to burn my house down, threatening to kill my family,” McKeen told Fox News.
* Article from: The Washington Examiner