Tennessee Teen Sues After LGBTQ Post Triggers Suspension
A Christian school in Tennessee is being sued for suspending a student and withholding her diploma after she came out as gay on social media.
Morgan Armstrong recently announced on Instagram and Facebook that she is gay. She wrote that she was in a relationship and posted photos of herself with her girlfriend — including one depicting the pair kissing. The caption read, “Cat’s out of the bag.”
Now her high school, the Tennessee Christian Preparatory School in Cleveland, Tennessee, has suspended the 18-year-old and is withholding her diploma and not allowing her to graduate.
A star basketball player for Tennessee Christian, Armstrong said she was nervous about how the news would be received, especially by relatives or other followers who oppose homosexuality.
“It was nerve-wracking because I knew everyone would have different opinions, some would like it, some would hate The Washington Post. She sent a private message on social media to ten friends, asking them to “like” the post.
“Go and comment on my post, I have some ruthless Trump supporting ‘Jesus’ mfs on there,” Armstrong wrote in the private message, according to Nashville-based NBC affiliate WSMV.
After sending that message, one of those people apparently told school authorities. Armstrong and her parents were called to a meeting with principal Kylie Machacek and head of schools Jared Tilley.
The administrators presented the Armstrongs with a letter accusing her of allegedly violating the school’s social media policy for students, which declares that students cannot write disparaging or harassing remarks about fellow members of the school community.
“Morgan posted on social media platforms, such as Instagram, a disparaging remark, reflecting the people at Tennessee Christian,” the letter read. “The comment reflected on the institution, facility, staff, alumni and students in the most negative possible way.”
As a result, Armstrong would be barred from campus and all school-related events, including her upcoming graduation.
It also demanded that she refrain from commenting further on the school or people affiliated with the school, threatening to forward any further public comments to colleges and universities. The school also threatened to withhold her diploma if she did not comply with the terms set forth in the letter.
Armstrong has since defended her actions, telling the Post, “Everyone else gets to post their boyfriend or girlfriend. So just because I have a girlfriend and I’m a girl, why does that mean that I shouldn’t be able to? … I like the pictures, I love my girlfriend and I wanted to show it.”
Morgan and her parents are contesting the accusation that she did anything that violated the school’s social media policy — and that, even if she had, the punishment handed down far exceeds the school’s own policy of a one-day suspension for a first-time offense.
“Morgan did not write anything about the school at any time,” Daniel Horwitz, the Armstrongs’ attorney, told WSMV. “She didn’t post anything about the school, and the private message was not about the school.”
On May 10, the day Armstrong was supposed to graduate, she and her family held a small protest across the street from the ceremony.
On May 19, the Armstrongs filed a lawsuit in Bradley County Chancery Court, accusing Tennessee Christian Preparatory School of making false claims that Morgan Armstrong had violated the school’s social media policy, and erroneously suspending her for the alleged infraction.
The lawsuit argues that the school’s decision to suspend Armstrong and bar her from campus was extreme and not in line with its own disciplinary policies.
The lawsuit further argues that the school’s threat to withhold Armstrong’s diploma and forward any comments she makes about her suspension to colleges and universities — sullying her reputation in the process — is impermissible, and based on a vague standard for determining what constitutes “online slander.”
The lawsuit accuses the school of breach of contract, noting that the school continues to charge Morgan’s parents tuition, resulting in monetary loss, harming Morgan’s GPA by banning her from campus, preventing her from taking final exams, and prohibiting her from graduating.
The lawsuit demands Morgan be allowed to take her finals and be awarded the diploma she has earned. It also seeks damages.
Tilley, the head of schools for Tennessee Christian, pushed back against claims made in Armstrong’s lawsuit, telling the Post that her diploma had been mailed.
“The school denies said allegations in full, particularly the assertion that Morgan Armstrong’s diploma is being withheld. Morgan Armstrong’s diploma has been mailed,” Tilley said.
Horwitz, responding to Tilley, said his client “is pleased to learn that, days after she filed suit, Tennessee Christian Preparatory School has apparently decided to back off its explicit written threat to withhold it.” However, he said that Armstrong still plans to move forward with the lawsuit.
“I didn’t file the lawsuit in any of this just because I wanted to pick a fight with Tennessee Christian,” Armstrong told the Post. “What happened should have never happened — if it was me or any other child who went to any school — it shouldn’t have ever happened.”
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