An 8-year-old Lynchburg, Virginia girl
was pushed out of a girl's private Christian school for acting too
masculine.
Officials at Timberlake Christian
School objected to Sunnie Kahle's appearance in a letter to her
grandparents Doris and Carroll Thompson, who are her legal guardians.
“You're probably aware that
Timberlake Christian School is a religious, Bible believing
institution providing education in a distinctly Christian
environment,” administrators wrote. “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.”
The letter allegedly notes that the
school could refuse to admit a student “if that student is
condoning sexual immorality, practicing a homosexual lifestyle or
alternative gender identity.”
“Sunnie realizes she's a female, but
she wants to do boy things,” Doris Thompson told WDBJ.
“She wants to play rough and tough.”
Sunnie's grandmother enrolled her in a
public school but said that she cries every day because she misses
her old classmates.
Citing confidentiality reasons, school
officials have declined to comment, saying only that they take issue
with the family's “narrative.”