A child has been denied entrance into an Episcopal school in Bedford because her parents are married lesbians.
Jill and Tracy Harrison, lesbians married in 2006 in Canada, applied to enroll their daughter into St. Vincent's School, in June.
Jill gave birth to Olivia, thanks to a sperm donor. On the application, they crossed out the word father on the application and wrote mother and put Tracy's name on that line. Jill was written on the mother line.
They attended the school's parent night on Tuesday, and now, just a few days before school starts Monday, the school is denying their daughter Olivia enrollment into the school because her parents are lesbians, the women said.
And an update:
(CNN) — A private religious school in Texas has denied admission to the daughter of a lesbian couple who wanted to enroll the child in preschool, citing its “clear teaching of the Christian faith” for the refusal.
In a statement e-mailed to CNN sister network HLN, the dean of St. Vincent’s Cathedral School in the Dallas suburb of Bedford, Texas, said the school is standing on its principles “in matters of marriage and sex outside of marriage” by refusing to seat 4-year-old Olivia Harrison.
“St. Vincent’s School as a ministry of St. Vincent’s Cathedral upholds the clear teaching of the Christian faith, the Holy Bible, and the Anglican Church in North America,” the Rev. Ryan Reed said.
“We based our decisions about enrollment on what is best for the children of St. Vincent’s as a whole and in conformity with the above standards,” he said. “We regret the disappointment the mother feels, but also do not understand why she would want to enroll her child in a school that would undercut her own personal values at home.”
Olivia’s mother, Jill Harrison, told HLN’s “Prime News” that was fine with her.
“I absolutely would not want her to partake in a school where they did not believe or condone the relationship that we have together,” she said.
St. Vincent’s is part of a conservative movement that broke away from the U.S. Episcopal Church in 2008, in part over the Episcopal church’s positions on gay and lesbian rights. The Anglican Church in North America claims about 100,000 adherents.
In a follow-up e-mail, Reed said that the school had no problem with a single mother, “lesbian or not, living chaste” — but said St. Vincent’s has taken a hard line in other cases. He said it has rejected an earlier preschool applicant who came from a gay household, fired an unmarried teacher who became pregnant and removed a man “from leadership roles in the school” after he left his wife for another woman.
This is the money quote for me: Olivia’s mother, Jill Harrison, told HLN’s “Prime News” that was fine with her.
“I absolutely would not want her to partake in a school where they did not believe or condone the relationship that we have together,” she said.
This woman obviously knew what the school taught and believed. This couple is from Bedford, home of the school. St. Vincent's school is part of St. Vincent's Cathedral. No one who lives around there, especially a lesbian couple, can be unaware of the fact that this is Bishop Iker's Cathedral and that the entire diocese has left the Episcopal Church over just such issues as the blessing of homosexual relationships and the rejection of clear Biblical teachings. If the woman wanted her child to receive a "religious" education that condoned mommy's lifestyle, all she had to do was find an Episcopal school, not an Anglican one. She intentionally created this uproar as a way to further her own agenda. Using your own kid as a human shield. Nice and classy, lady.
