Five-year-old girl 'kicked out' of school because parents are same-sex couple

A five-year-old girl, identified only by her first name Zoey, was allegedly kicked out of her school in Louisiana because her parents are a same-sex couple.

Her parents, Emily and Jennie Parker said that the school officials at the Bible Baptist Academy in DeQuincy asked them to find a new school for their daughter because their "lifestyle" did not match the school's values.

"We got called into the principal's office for a meeting, they informed us that Zoey wouldn't be able to go to school there anymore because of our lifestyle choices," Jennifer Parker told KPLC.

"The pastor met us in the meeting room and started talking about gender identification and that they teach the words of the Lord and marriage was between a man and a woman. They didn't think this was a good fit," said Emily Parker.

The couple also claimed that they were informed just two days before the start of the new school year. The couple adopted Zoey after her father passed away in September 2020 in a workplace accident. She has been living with them since then.

"She lost her father, she lost her mother and now she's losing her school which she loves very much," Jennie Parker told KPLC. The girl attended pre-school at Bible Baptist Academy and had all her friends there.

The school, however, has expressed no regrets over their decision to ask the Parkers to take their daughter to some other school. The school plans to continue teaching its students that marriage is between a man and a woman.

In a statement issued after the aforementioned incident, the school said: "This should not be interpreted that we have any hatred or malice toward them. We are just as committed to loving all people as we are to holding to Bible principles that people may not agree with or may not understand."

Even though the Parkers have been left hurt and humiliated by the incident, they believe it has been a "blessing in disguise," since they have received immense support from the local community.

"We have an opportunity to bring her to a school which is a little closer and it's a new opportunity for her to make new friends," added Jennie.

Same-sex marriages are legal in the United States after the US Supreme Court struck down the ban on such marriages in its landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in 2015.