Not this again.
An Anglican elementary school in Bedford, Texas has denied admission to a girl because her parents are lesbians and married in Canada, reports NBCDFW. The head of St. Vincent’s School, Kenneth Monk, said that by allowing the the school would be “going off our canons” that say marriage is limited to one man and one woman. (Via MSNBC.com; thanks, Towleroad and @homopolitico.)
In May, a Roman Catholic school in Massachusetts also withdrew its acceptance of an 8-year-old boy because he has lesbian moms. A spokesperson for the Boston archdiocese said, however, that the archdiocese does not have a policy that would prohibit the children of same-sex couples from attending its schools.
A Catholic preschool in Boulder, Colorado similarly told a lesbian couple in March that their child could not return to the school next year—but in that case, the Denver Archdiocese supported the school’s decision. (For contrast, however, I recommend this essay in Commonweal magazine, in which a lesbian mom discusses her Catholic faith, her and her partner’s decision to send their children to Catholic school, and the welcome they received there.)
And lesbian moms Cate and Elizabeth Wirth were told last December by a Vermont district director of the Boy Scouts that they could no longer volunteer for their son’s Cub Scout troop after it became known that they are a couple.
Same-sex parents aren’t good for children? Only when others make it so.
I feel terrible for the parents and daughter. But I wonder why they approached the school in the first place, because the sponsoring church is part of the “Anglican” movement that recently split from the Episcopalians chiefly because of GLBT issues (scare quotes because they are not affiliated with the better-known Anglicans of the UK).
And yes, how interesting that the same people who claim our families are “bad for the children” because of social stigma, helpfully provide the stigma.
That last line really couldn’t have said it better!
And to some extent I agree with you @Theresa, but then on the other hand I think queer families need to be everywhere and to hold a firm expectation that we deserve to be there.
Angela, I totally agree that we deserve to be everywhere and should act accordingly.
I guess my personal feelings about the breakaway Anglicans would make it hard for me to even consider their school. But I recognize that people see value in different traditions and they choose schools for lots of reasons, ideology sometimes being a rather minor one.
And kudos to the family for making the school confront a real-life queer family. It may have planted a seed that will bear fruit years from now.
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