bigotry in ontario

Ontario California, that is. Commenter Liam J brought this story to my attention over the weekend.
ONTARIO, Calif. - A 14-year-old student was expelled from a Christian school because her parents are lesbians, the school's superintendent said in a letter.

Shay Clark was expelled from Ontario Christian School on Thursday.

"Your family does not meet the policies of admission," Superintendent Leonard Stob wrote to Tina Clark, the girl's biological mother.

Stob wrote that school policy requires that at least one parent may not engage in practices "immoral or inconsistent with a positive Christian life style, such as cohabitating without marriage or in a homosexual relationship," The Los Angeles Times reported in Friday's edition.

Stob could not be reached for comment by the newspaper. Shay and her parents said they won't fight the ruling.

School administrators learned of the parents' relationship this week after Shay was reprimanded for talking to the crowd during a football game, Tina Clark said.

Clark and her partner have been together 22 years and have two other daughters, ages 9 and 19.
I love the bit about "cohabitating without marriage". Because of people like these school administrators, the girl's parents aren't allowed to get married!

Checking out reaction in the blogosphere, I saw many people pointing out that a private school is allowed to set whatever standards they like, and it's within their rights to admit or expel a student for any reason. Two problems there. One, most private schools receive some government funding. If gay families were equal under the law, and the school accepts one dime of federal or state funding, this discrimination would be illegal. And two, it may be technically legal, but it's still unethical and immoral.

Christian School indeed. Do you think the school expels students because their parents engage in other practices inconsistent with a positive Christian lifestyle, such as supporting the death penalty or useless foreign wars?

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