Christian School Punished Morgan Armstrong After She Came Out as Gay
Tennessee Christian Preparatory School barred Morgan Armstrong from graduation, withheld her diploma, and later agreed to pay $10,000.
Morgan Armstrong was supposed to graduate with her class at Tennessee Christian Preparatory School. Instead, after she came out as gay, the Cleveland, Tennessee, school barred her from the ceremony, withheld her diploma, and threatened to send her social media posts to colleges, according to her lawsuit.
The settlement requires Tennessee Christian Preparatory School to pay her $10,000, release her diploma, and stop making disparaging comments about her to colleges, according to WSMV.
Armstrong had posted photos with her girlfriend on social media with the caption “cat’s out of the bag.” She later sent a private message asking friends to like the post and referred to some “Trump supporting ‘Jesus’” followers on her account, according to local reporting.
The school summoned her and her family after the posts and presented a letter accusing her of making “a disparaging remark” that reflected on people at Tennessee Christian Preparatory School, according to reporting on the lawsuit. The school then barred her from graduation and withheld her diploma.
Her attorney, Daniel Horwitz, said she had never posted anything about the school. He also said the punishment ignored the school’s own discipline policy, which called for a one-day suspension for a first social media violation.
On graduation day, Armstrong and her family stood across the street from the ceremony. She said it was difficult knowing classmates she had grown up with for four years were able to walk across the stage while she was not allowed to join them.
The settlement gave her the diploma the school withheld and a $10,000 payment. It also bars Tennessee Christian Preparatory School from making disparaging comments about her to colleges. The case now stands as a record of graduation access, diploma control, and college-threat pressure used against a gay student who had already earned the right to walk with her class.
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Source / legal note: Source / legal note: Reporting reviewed: WSMV, WTVC NewsChannel 9, People, Newsweek, and PinkNews. The school denied the allegations; the settlement is not an admission of liability.