Catholic School Expels Student Over LGBTQ Book Ban
A Catholic school in Missouri expelled a straight-A student after his mother objected to the school's ban on books with LGBTQ characters.
A Catholic school outside of Kansas City, Missouri, has expelled a straight-A student after his mother opposed the school’s LGBTQ book ban.
As first reported by the Kansas City Star, St. John LaLande Catholic School, in Blue Springs, Missouri, has been accused of ousting a well-performing 11-year-old student after his mother took issue with the school’s choice to ban books with LGBTQ characters.
Paul and Hollee Muller, whose two sons — Will, a rising sixth grader, and Andrew, a rising eighth grader — both attended St. John LaLande, received a letter in July from the school’s principal, Susan Martin. The letter declared that the Mullers had “stated both verbally and in writing you do not agree with nor do you support the teachings of the Catholic Church.”
“After prayerful consideration and discussion among our school administration it is obvious we no longer have a partnership with you, since the values of your family are not in alignment with those of our school,” the letter read. “Therefore, the school administration has made the decision to disenroll your child from our school.”
The Mullers have had a long relationship with St. John LaLande. Paul Muller, along with his 15 siblings, attended the school, and Hollee, as a mother of enrolled students, served as vice president of the school’s advisory board.
The school has claimed that the Mullers’ alleged lack of support for Catholic Church teachings — a point of contention that could be debated, as the Church’s official teachings on homosexuality and transgender identity are more nuanced than the views promoted by the school — began last year after Hollee Muller objected to some changes that the school’s new pastor, Sean McCaffery, began to implement last year.
“The priest came rolling in hot,” Hollee Muller said, “yanking books” that had LGBTQ characters, including a book about a polar bear with two mothers and the works of Rick Riordan, which have some characters that are gay, bisexual, lesbian, and transgender.
The school also allegedly banned the popular language teaching app Duolingo for teaching the translations of “gay” and “lesbian.” The school also banned the news site CNN10 from classrooms “because the priest said we don’t need the media teaching our kids,” she added.
“I don’t think being blatantly homophobic is a teaching of the Catholic Church,” Muller told the Star.
Unfortunately, this was not the first time that Hollee Muller had found herself in opposition to the school administration’s actions. She previously raised concerns with the school’s principal after overhearing a teacher’s statement that girls who wear leggings may give the impression that they are “whores.”
In response, she emailed the principal, saying that “perhaps we need to start working on educating our boys how to respect others and appropriate treatment of women instead of focusing on teaching girls how to ‘stay safe’ around others.”
While Muller’s older son, Andrew, didn’t want to stay at St. John’s, her 11-year-old, Will, the straight-A student with no disciplinary infractions, was despondent and “in tears” over learning he couldn’t return to the school he loves.
It’s not only the relationships with teachers and other students that Will will miss, Hollee told the Star. He also has a life-threatening peanut allergy that St. John’s had been very helpful in accommodating — while other schools may not be as willing to go to such lengths.
Metro Weekly reached out to the school for comment but was told by a spokesperson that the diocese is handling the matter privately with the Muller family and declined to comment further.
Despite what the principal’s letter claims about the Mullers’ straying from Church teachings, another mother of a St. John LaLande student told the Star that the Mullers have been one of the more devout, and consistently loyal, families within the parish.
The mother, who didn’t want to be identified for fear of retaliation from the school, says that the Mullers “volunteer to do a lot of things other parents won’t,” including acting as volunteer basketball and track coaches and running a Tuesday night “open gym” for the kids.
“Their whole life was that church. It’s just wrong, and it’s going to hurt a lot of the kids,” she said.
Other parents appear to disagree with the school’s decision, but have only spoken out anonymously now that it is obvious parents will face retaliation if they publicly disagree the school’s policies.
A second mother of children enrolled at the school, who was also not identified, told the Star that Hollee has “given so much of her time [to the church]” and was “shocked they would do this.”
A third mother said the situation was unfair.
“I don’t consider myself liberal, but banning books, and Duolingo? Don’t punish the child for the parent. And honestly, Hollee did nothing wrong,” she said.
A fourth mother, whose child is enrolled in Will Muller’s class, said that the 11-year-old is one of the best-behaved students in the class and that this judgment is not being fairly applied to all families within the church. For example, there are children attending the school whose parents are single, divorced, or even remarried — and whose lifestyles therefore run counter to Church teachings on sexuality and marriage — who have not been threatened with expulsion.
“We do sign that family covenant that says we’ll go to Mass every Sunday, but I’m at Mass every Sunday and there are a lot of people who aren’t there,” the mother of Will’s classmate said. “I don’t agree with all of the teachings of the Catholic Church. In fact, I’m in line at the pharmacy to pick up my birth control right now, and no one’s kicking me out.”
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
