Teen Expelled for Prom Date with Trans Boy
A Georgia Christian school forced a senior to withdraw just weeks before graduation after she brought a transgender friend to prom.
A Christian school in the Atlanta suburbs forced a senior to withdraw just weeks before graduation after attending her prom with a transgender boy.
Emily Wright, who until recently attended North Cobb Christian School, went to her senior prom, which was held at an off-campus venue, with a friend who didn’t attend the school.
“It was off-property. I did sign a form allowing her to bring a guest,” Emily’s mother, Tricia Wright, told Atlanta FOX affiliate WAGA-TV, noting that the only limitation on the form was related to the age of the guest.
Ten days after prom, Emily was called into the principal’s office.
“I was asked, ‘Is there anything we should know about the guest you brought to prom?’ And I knew exactly what they were talking about, so I said, ‘Yes, he’s transgender,'” Emily said, recounting the school’s response.
The school called Tricia and asked if she knew that her daughter had brought a transgender guest to prom. When she responded affirmatively, the principal reportedly told her, “Well, I’m sorry, Ms. Wright, we’re going to have to expel Emily.”
According to Baptist News Global, North Cobb Christian School was founded in 1983 as a conservative evangelical Christian alternative to Atlanta’s public school system. The school receives taxpayer funds under Georgia’s school voucher program.
Todd Clingman, the principal and headmaster of North Cobb Christian School, is a graduate of Liberty University, the right-wing college founded by anti-LGBTQ Christian conservative Jerry Falwell. He previously served as head of school and high school principal at two separate Christian academies in Texas.
Clingman’s personal views are unknown, but it is not shocking that someone embracing a Falwell-type view of morality might take issue with any acknowledgment of LGBTQ identity, even at an off-campus venue.
Throughout the country, other Christian schools — albeit with more explicit anti-LGBTQ policies — have moved to expel gay or transgender students, fire LGBTQ teachers or administrators, and refuse admittance to children of same-sex couples.
Tricia Wright was shocked by the decision, believing that the school’s response was not indicative of a Christian attitude.
Wright said that the school claims its core values are “love for God, neighbor, and self” and “respect for people, property, and ideas.”
Wright told Atlanta News First that there is nothing in the school’s rulebook that states that LGBTQ individuals are not allowed to attend school events.
She said that while she understands that North Cobb Christian School is a private institution with rules that differ from those at public schools, she thought that the school would be more charitable and welcoming.
“That’s not, in my opinion, a good example — to not be kind, not be loving, not be accepting, to be exclusive instead of inclusive,” she said.
Emily cried upon learning she would be forced to withdraw from school.
“I was just thinking that my entire future was in jeopardy. ‘Where am I going to go to school? Where am I going to graduate?'” Emily told WAGA.
With just weeks left in the school year, Emily enrolled in a public school so she could graduate and go to college.
North Cobb has declined to publicly comment on its decision to expel Emily.
The Wrights have since written a letter to Clingman criticizing their daughter’s forced withdrawal. They told Clingman that the decision “is not reflective of the Christian values you claim to uphold,” and that they believe the school made a “discriminatory decision.”
They added, “The school chose to kick out a senior student just four weeks before graduation simply because Emily was being inclusive and kind.”
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