This is really, really disappointing.
Two Virginia grandparents have pulled their granddaughter, Sunnie Kahle, 8, out of her Christian elementary school after receiving a letter from administrators saying they would reject admittance to the girl unless she started dressing more feminine, according to local outlet WSET-TV. Kahle wears her hair in a short cut, which apparently led administrators to worry over her gender identity.
"We believe that unless Sunnie as well as her family clearly understand that God has made her female and her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity, that TCS is not the best place for her future education,” reads the letter from Timberlake Christian Schools, per WSET.
A representative from the school did not immediately comment to The Huffington Post, although a rep told WSET that issues with Sunnie go "far beyond her hair length" and that other problems "disturbed the classroom environment.”
The school’s website says its vision is to “develop in [students] a passion for glorifying God and train them for a life consistent with a Biblical world-and-life view.”
But if the school wants to foster young people's religious zeal, it might help to drop its problematic agenda. A survey released last month by the Public Religion Research Institute found that one-third of millennials who left their religion did so for reasons related to "negative teachings" or "negative treatment" of the LGBT community.
"While many churches and people in the pews have been moving away from their opposition to LGBT rights over the last decade, this new research provides further evidence that negative teachings on this issue have hurt churches’ ability to attract and retain young people,” Public Religion Research Institute CEO Robert P. Jones said in a statement at the time.
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