A Tennessee couple is suing their child’s gym teacher after he allegedly forced the child into anti-gay sermons.
When a lesbian couple in Knox County, who have chosen to keep their identities withheld besides the chosen names K.K. and K.K., found out that their son A.K. was interested in sports, they were totally supportive. The couple rooted for their son, who goes to West Valley Middle School, as he participated in a middle-school basketball program.
But according to Towleroad, the couple soon found out that their son was being forced to attend anti-gay religious program “Teens for Christ.” According to its website, Teens for Christ is a nonprofit organization with 856 chapters worldwide whose mission is “turning teenagers into fully committed followers of Jesus Christ.” Through the program, the son was allegedly made to listen to the coach for 30 mins in the morning twice a week. The coach would read and interpret the Bible, which often included anti-gay rhetoric. After hearing of this news, the couple filed a federal lawsuit on March 4.
“Once Comer lured the students into participating in Defendants’ school-sponsored basketball program, it was revealed that, in order to actually participate in such program, the students would be forced to participate in the “Teens for Christ” program,” the lawsuit states, according to NBC’s WBIR10News.
It then continues, “Based on information provided to K.K./K.K. by Assistant Principal Matt Patillo, West Valley Middle School Principal David Claxton and Knox County have been aware of and have acquiesced to Comer leading the school-sponsored basketball program at West Valley Middle School for not less than eight years, while using the same as pretext to recruit students to join ‘Teens for Christ’ program.”
Sources: Towleroad, Knoxville News Sentinel, WBIR10
