Teen Expelled From School For “Lifestyle Violation” After Wearing Rainbow Shirt On Her Birthday
A private school in Kentucky is getting blasted online after they expelled a 15-year-old student for “lifestyle violations” based on her mom’s social media post on the girl’s birthday.
On Kayla Kenney’s 15th birthday, her mom got her a rainbow cake and took her out to dinner with friends. But when mom Kimberly posted a pic of the festivities online, the school got involved.
Whitefield Academy in Louisville, Kentucky is a Christian school with a mission statement “to serve Christian families by providing a Christ-centered, Biblically-based education,” according to their website. Apparently the Christ they believe in has something against rainbows.
The school has a “Commitment to family values,” they claim, and the institution’s Code of Conduct does say specifically that a student may be barred from attending if they lead what they consider to be alternative lifestyles. In fact, they’re specific that off-campus behavior that is outside the school’s belief in sexual orientation may lead to discipline. The Alford/Kenney family doesn’t see how Kayla’s conduct violated that.
The now-15-year-old wore a rainbow shirt to her birthday dinner and her mother provided a cake with “assorted colors,” according to the receipt from the bakery. ”There was nothing intended by that and even when I went back and got the receipt from the bakery, it didn’t say anything about representation, it just said assorted colors.”
When talking to Wave3 News, Kim said, ”I feel judged, she feels judged; [it’s] just very devastating for us.” Kayla attended Whitefield Academy for four years prior to her expulsion. Now she attends a public school.
The head of Whitefield Academy told Courier Journal that the extreme discipline comes after “two years of continuous violations.” Kimberly wasn’t aware of any violations prior to her social media post except for an incident in October in which Kayla was found with Juul pods in her backpack.
Legally, the school has the right to expel a student for his/her/their sexuality because of Louisville’s Fairness Ordinance which allows discrimination as long as it’s for religious reasons.
In December, Kayla posted on social media a photo someone’s back with a rainbow painted on, along with the words “love is love.”