US: Virginia school removes 8-year-old for ‘non-Biblical’ gender expression
A Christian school in Virginia has removed an 8-year-old who cut her hair short and dressed in boy’s clothes, because her gender expression isn’t ‘Biblical’.
Sunnie Kahle’s grandparents were told by Timberlake Christian School that unless she conforms to ‘Biblical standards’ for gender, she will be refused re-admission next year.
According to WSET, a letter from the school read: “You’re probably aware that Timberlake Christian School is a religious, Bible-believing institution providing education in a distinctly Christian environment.
“We believe that unless Sunnie as well as her family clearly understand that God has made her female and her dress and behaviour need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity, that TCS is not the best place for her future education.”
The school also say that the child is in violation of the school’s rules, which ban “condoning sexual immorality, practising a homosexual lifestyle or alternative gender identity”, referencing specific bible verses.
Her grandparents Doris and Carroll Thompson, who adopted Sunnie when she was little, have chosen to send her to a state school rather than try to change her.
Grandmother Doris Thompson said: “How do you tell a child when she wants to wear pants a shirt, and go out and play in the mud and so forth, how do you tell her, no you can’t, you’ve got to wear a pink bow in your hair, and you’ve got to let your hair grow out long, how do you do that? I can’t do that.”
