St. Vincent’s Episcopal School turned down the daughter of Jill and Tracy Harrison, just a few days before school starts.
The Harrisons, who were married in Canada in 2006, crossed out the word “father” on the school’s application in June and replaced it with mother, listing both of their names. They attended a parents night at the school this past Tuesday before being notified of the decision, and they’ve been refunded the $100 application fee.
“I am horribly disappointed,” Jill Harrison said. “In fact, we are in the 21st century and we are still dealing with this issue. We should just move on. Denying my daughter education based on who I end up sleeping with at the end of the day makes me furious.”
The school’s nondiscrimination policy doesn’t include sexual orientation. From Kenneth Monk, the head of the school:
“We are a church affiliated with the Anglican Church in North America, and it is their policy that we don’t provide services to individuals or families that do not behave properly. We’re going off our canons that say, ‘The Anglican Church in North America affirms our Lord’s teaching that the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is in its nature a union permanent and lifelong of one man and one woman.'”
It’s not uncommon for private religious schools to deny enrollment to the children of same-sex parents. But usually it’s a Catholic school.
In this case, the Anglican Church in North America is one of the groups that’s split off from the U.S. Episcopal Church over the demoniation’s decision to consecrate openly gay bishops. The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, which includes Bedford, is one of several that have broken away since Bishop V. Gene Robinson was consecrated in 2004. Which is why we’ve put “Episcopal” in quotations when referring to St. Vincent’s. The school’s website lists it as “A preschool through eighth grade school in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.”
UPDATE: A note we just received from Jason C.N. Smith, a Fort Worth attorney and straight LGBT ally who says he went to elementary school at St. Vincent’s:
“This action definitely not how I was taught to treat others at St. Vincent’s,” Smith wrote. “I was taught love God and thy neighbor as thy self, which includes this little girl and her parents.”
When are people going to figure out that religion is nothing but organized discrimination and hatred?
First of all, St. Vincent’s is NOT an Episcopal church. It is one of the congregations that has followed deposed bishop Jack Iker into a never-neverland of theological exclusion. They do not speak for the Episcopal Church. St. Vincent’s is not an Anglican church either. Their cadre of churches are not recognized by the Archbishop of Canturbury as a part of the Anglican Communion. That they continue to use the name ‘Episcopal’ is being challenged in the courts.
I am truly saddened by the insult to this family who thought they were signing their daughter up in a Church that would be accepting. I do hope they will contact Bishop Ohl, the current Bishop of Ft. Worth so that he can direct them to a school that is welcoming and affirming.
It’s a PRIVATE school. They can do what they want.
Boxtop, St Vincent’s claims itself and is accredited as an “Episcopal” School. It must then follow the inclusive policies of the Epsicopal accrediting agencies. If St. Vincent’s were to remove the claims of it’s Episcopal affiliations, I would agree with you.
This could turn into a breach of religious rights. Regardless of your stance on homosexuality or religion, the Constitution gives freedoms to religious societies and schools to define their own terms of acceptance. If the school is forced into reversing their decision, the next step would be to force Catholics or others into solemnizing same-sex marriages which they disagree with. The trampling of religious rights is a scary thing to behold, and I believe that it is the next target of secular forces.
It’s not the Moms who want to go to school, it’s the children. It’s a shame in this country to deny a child the right to attend school. Religion… !