Valley Christian School in Dublin, California – Photo: Facebook
A Christian high school in California went out of its way to recruit a talented baseball player, and then rejected him because he has two gay dads.
Caleb Degala-Burnett, a recently graduated eighth grader from Union City, was invited to a high-level scouting event for the Class of 2029–2030, where 20 top prospects participated in a pro-style workout and game. According to statistical analysis, he had the fastest outfield throw in his class. The website Perfect Game rates him a “college prospect” and a potential pro draft pick “with development.”
Even before the May 10 scouting event, Caleb’s baseball skills had caught the attention of experts and coaches, including the baseball coach at Valley Christian High School in Dublin, California.
“Caleb’s name came up last night a few times and we really want him to be a part of a great school,” the coach texted Caleb’s father, Mike Degala, on March 5, according to The San Francisco Standard, which reviewed the message.
Caleb was excited about the prospect of attending Valley Christian. He was drawn by its small class sizes, the chance to play baseball, and the opportunity to make new friends.
According to The Standard, the coach told Degala that administrators at the $24,000-per-year private school were supportive. In a text, he said Joe Fuca, the vice executive of schools, was “all in” on Caleb “playing varsity baseball for us next year.”
Texts, emails, and calendar invites reviewed by the newspaper show that school officials had engaged in weeks of talks with the family — even discussing potential financial aid packages.
But the school later rejected the idea of Caleb enrolling, according to Degala, who said he spoke with Fuca by phone on April 13.
“He said, ‘You being a family of same-sex marriage doesn’t align with our Christian values,'” Degala told The Standard. “‘We would lose supporters, and it doesn’t align with the mission of the school.'”
Valley Christian administrators declined to comment when contacted by The Standard.
Caleb said he was shocked and disappointed by the school’s sudden reversal.
“I felt angry about it, because it really shouldn’t matter what your family is,” Caleb said. “It should matter about the student and how they are as a person.”
Because Valley Christian is a private religious school, federal law does not prohibit it from discriminating against students based on sexual orientation — including that of their parents.
“I’ve never, to this magnitude, experienced this type of discrimination against our family,” Degala said. “In this day and age, it’s crazy.”
But such discrimination may not be uncommon at religiously affiliated schools.
When The Standard polled 10 of the top Christian high schools in the San Francisco Bay Area listed on the education site Niche, only one — Mountain View Academy — responded at all. That school said it does accept LGBTQ students and those from LGBTQ families.
Caleb says that while his parents aren’t religious, he wants to explore faith — specifically Christianity.
“I just want to learn more about it,” he said, adding that Valley Christian’s rejection is “just one little setback” in his journey.
Master Burnett, Caleb’s other father, said he wants his son to explore faith for himself. He is disappointed that this was one of his son’s first encounters with Christianity.
“I don’t consider discrimination a Christian value,” said Burnett, who was raised in California’s Central Valley by Southern Baptist missionaries.
Burnett added that he wasn’t surprised the school rejected his son because of his parents’ relationship.
“I’ve grown up with a degree of religious bigotry, so I’m accustomed to it,” Burnett said. “I call it being a ‘Sunday Christian.’ We’re all open and inclusive on Sundays, but the other 313 days of the year, we’re judgmental bigots who will hold anything and everything against you.”
Degala shared the story in a June 1 Facebook post to raise awareness about how Valley Christian treated his son. He hoped it might push the school to reconsider its policy — even though Caleb won’t be attending, even if they change course. He will instead attend James Logan High School, the local public school in Union City, this fall.
“It’s their loss,” Degala said of the school’s snub of his son.
WorldPride participants share why Pride still matters, what issues drive them, and why visibility remains vital in today’s political climate.
By André Hereford, Ryan Leeds, and John Riley
June 21, 2025
WorldPride DC on Sunday, June 8, 2025 - Photo: Randy Shulman / Metro Weekly
Interviewed on Saturday and Sunday, June 7 and 8, 2025, at the WorldPride Street Festival, Parade, and March for Freedom.
Nic Ashe
Los Angeles, Ca.
Queer, He/Him
Why did you come to WorldPride?
I've been following WorldPride through the lens of Black queerness, namely with a focus on Christianity and religion. Early in my life, when I think about the first times that I was learning that queer may be a pejorative or that being gay was "not good," it was through my church upbringing. So I was very curious to find if there were examples in 2025 of those two oxymoronic opposing forces existing in harmony.
A masked assailant threw a sharp rock through the front window of a gay couple's home in Northeast D.C., striking one of the men in the head.
The attack occurred last Friday in the city’s Kingman Park neighborhood, just as WorldPride weekend festivities were set to begin.
Surveillance video captured the assault. In the footage, a masked individual approaches the couple’s house -- decorated with rainbow Pride flags in the front yard -- and hurls a rock through the front window before fleeing. A cry can be heard from inside the home.
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The Williams Institute estimates there are now about 823,000 married same-sex couples in the U.S., including 591,000 who have wed since the Obergefell decision.
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