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‘They Feel Unsafe’: DC School Refuses to Play Sports at Christian School Where Karen Pence Teaches

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor

January 30, 2019

Longtime mainstream Christian doctrine is apparently a hill to die on for one private school in Washington, D.C.

In a letter to parents, the headmaster of Sheridan School, located in the nation’s capital, announced her students will no longer be participating in sports games with Immanuel Christian School, the private school where second lady Karen Pence is serving as an art instructor, unless they are home games.

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Jessica Donovan explained to parents that, even though the self-described “progressive” institution has played games against Immanuel for years, they will no longer be doing so because of the recently revealed doctrinal beliefs espoused by the Springfield, Virginia, school.

Because of the school’s “exclusionary policies” — i.e., its rules against sexual relations outside the confines of heterosexual marriage — make Sheridan students feel “unsafe,” according to The American Conservative.

The letter states, in part:

Along with many of you, we learned last week that Immanuel Christian School, a school in our athletic conference, has a written policy prohibiting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, parents and teachers. Given our school’s fundamental belief in diversity and inclusion as expressed in our diversity statement, this information, and what to do about it, poses obvious challenges.

[…]

Since the majority of students wanted to play, we were initially planning to go to ICS with the student-athletes wearing a statement of support (such as rainbow socks or warm-up jerseys). As we talked more, we understood that some students did not feel safe entering a school that bans LGBTQ parents, students or even families that support LGBTQ rights. Forcing our children to choose between an environment in which they feel unsafe or staying home was not an option.

News of the school’s theological stance, which has presumably been in place for many years, bubbled to the surface when Pence first accepted the part-time teaching job there.

Many left-leaning activists and reporters were upset over the Christian institution’s commitment to what is mainstream Christian theology on marriage and sexual purity. The school requires applicants — both prospective students and faculty members — to sign a pledge to “live a personal life of moral purity.”

So, lemme get this straight, the second lady of the United States has chosen to work at a school that openly discriminates against LGBT adults and children. https://t.co/A4lxOv7V8G

— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) January 16, 2019

The policy bans “heterosexual activity outside of marriage (e.g., premarital sex, cohabitation, extramarital sex), homosexual or lesbian sexual activity, polygamy, transgender identity, any other violation of the unique roles of male and female, sexual harassment, use or viewing of pornographic material or websites.”

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Donavan, it should be noted, explained in her letter that she and her fellow Sheridan administrators worked to “separate the ideals of Christianity with the policies of this particular school, as we play many Christian schools that support LGBTQ rights.”

The headmaster also stated students will be wearing rainbow socks “in support of LGBTQ rights” whenever they play Immanuel at a home game.

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