Girl, 5, kicked out of Louisiana kindergarten because lesbian mothers don’t fit Christian values

A five-year-old girl was kicked out of a Louisiana Christian school because administrators said her lesbian parents didn’t fit with the school’s values.

Zoey Parker, 5, got the boot from the Bible Baptist Academy in DeQuincy, just two days before she was due to start kindergarten there.

Her parents, Emily, 28, and Jennie Parker, 31, a same-sex couple who have been married since 2016, said the school’s director and pastor called them suddenly into a meeting on Saturday.

‘They informed us that Zoey wouldn’t be able to go to school there anymore because of our lifestyle choices,’ Jennie, told KLPC.

Zoey – who is Emily’s niece, and whose father died in 2020 – previously attended the school for pre-K, but after the Parkers adopted her this summer, Bible Baptist Academy said they were no longer interested.

The Parkers first shared their story in a Facebook post, and since then they said the community support they received was overwhelming, saying numerous Christian schools in the area reached out to say Zoey would be welcome there.

Zoey was finally enrolled in one of those schools, starting at the Hamilton Christian School in Lake Charles this week. 

‘There are good Christians out there. The whole community of DeQuincy has showed us what it is to be a good Christian and to not preach hate like this,’ Jennie told NBC News, ‘They are the reason why we kept faith.’

Zoey with her adoptive parents, Emily Parker, 28, (left) and Jennie Parker 31, (right). Zoey is Emily’s niece

Zoey’s father was killed in an industrial accident at work in 2020 when he was just 22. Her mother is also no longer in her life, it is unclear why, and on August 3 Emily and Jennie officially adopted her.

‘She lost her father, she lost her mother, and now she’s losing her school, which she loves very much,’ Jennie said. 

Emily said they had gone to an open house at the school and even bought Zoey her uniforms, but that just three days after the adoption the school changed its tune.

‘The pastor met us in the meeting room and started talking about gender identification, and that they teach the words of the lord, and that marriage is between a man and a woman,’ Emily said, ‘And that they didn’t think this was a good fit.’

The Bible Baptist Academy in DeQuincy, Louisiana. The school booted five-year-old Zoey Parker because she was adopted by a lesbian couple

A statement posted on the Bible Baptist Academy’s website in the wake of their decision to boot Zoey Parker because of her parents’ sexual orientation

Emily said she was initially insulted, but also embarrassed.

‘We’ve never been confronted so bluntly about our relationship,’ she said. ‘Our love, our marriage, has always felt natural. Our families have always made us feel like we are two people who love each other. This was a big slap in the face.’ 

Those feelings quickly turned to outrage – and even gratitude – by the time Emily first shared the story in a Facebook post that Saturday evening.  

‘You know what you just taught my daughter? How truly judgmental your church is. How unforgiving and unrelenting you are,’ Emily wrote, ‘I was angry, hurt, embarrassed but I am not anymore. Now, I am thankful. Thankful you will not mold my tiny human’s brain to be anything like you.’

In a statement on its website, the school said that though the Bible teaches to ‘love everyone with the love of God despite their personal choices,’ they are committed to making sure its students ‘not only know our beliefs, but we want them to see them as well.’ 

Regarding personal relationships, we hold that those relationships, whether in dating or in marriage, should be between a man and a woman.’ 

 ‘There are times where our commitment to upholding our Christian values will not line up with the values of other people. This should not be interpreted that we have any hatred or malice toward them,’ the school added.

Emily (front) and Jennie (back) Parker. The couple was married in 2016 and adopted Emily’s niece, Zoey, on August 3 

Left to right: Zoey, Emily, and Jennie Parker. Zoey’s father was killed in an industrial accident in 2020, and her birth mother is no longer around, though it is unclear why

In an update to her Facebook post, Emily wrote that the school was telling people Zoey was barred from returning because the Parkers declined to sign a beliefs statement that agreed their home was free of ‘harm.’

Emily said that no such a form was ever presented to them.   

‘There was no paperwork or opportunity given to us. How could we have refused to sign something never presented to us. We might have signed it!’

‘I am sorry for all the turmoil that has quickly risen but this was never about my marriage. It was for my girl.’

The Bible Baptist Academy could not be reached from comment.