Chloe Shelton, at 8-years-old, told her crush she had feelings for them — like most kids her age do. But because her crush is a girl, she is now no longer allowed at school.
Chloe left the Rejoice Christian School in Owasso, Oklahoma, in tears after her principal told her “the Bible says you can only marry a man.”
Chloe’s mother, Delanie Shelton, says problems arose after her daughter told another girl she had a crush on her. And when administrators found out — they informed the family that they would no longer be welcome at the school. Shelton says she was called to the vice principal’s office on January 21 after she was told to come pick Chloe up after an “incident” on the playground.
“I went to pick her up and they told me that she told a girl on the playground that she has a crush on her,” the mom recalls.
Both the principal and the vice principal were in the office. The vice principal then asked Shelton how she felt “about girls liking girls.”
“I told her that I see no issue with it,” the mom recalls. But the vice principal was not happy with that response and informed her she would be escalating the issue. “The principal told me they would be talking to the superintendent and that the superintendent would be calling me,” she explains.
The school instructed Shelton to take Chloe home and keep her home from school the next day. In the interim, her 5-year-old son was allowed to return.
The mom recalled another heartbreaking detail of that day, according to Fox 23.
Chloe “said the vice principal sat her down and says the Bible says you can only marry a man and have children with a man. My daughter was crying saying ‘Does God still love me?’” the mother shared.
“The next day (Friday), the superintendent called me at 2:30 p.m. and told me that they would be ‘ending their partnership with our family,'” she shared. Shelton insisted for a specific reason as to why their “partnership” ended and was informed how her “beliefs” no longer lined up with the school’s.
She asked the superintendent to have a sit-down meeting with her family, “to which he refused and said there was ‘nothing more to be discussed.'”
“I told him that my beliefs had nothing to do with my children’s education,” she says. “He scoffed and said ‘Oh, but they do.’”
She further pressed as to why her son was being expelled. She was informed her entire family was being dismissed, including her son. According to the student handbook, same-sex relationships on campus are not grounds for expulsion.
But Shelton, who has vowed to raise her children not to judge and to love whomever they want to, sees another massive issue.
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“They ripped my kids out of the only school they’ve ever really known away from their teachers and friends they’ve had over the past four years over something my daughter probably doesn’t know or fully understand,” she continued.
The school refrained to comment, citing privacy issues.
Shelton stated how she decided to come forward with her daughter’s story so no child will ever wonder “if God still loves them” based on who they love.
“I just want everyone to know that it’s never OK to cause a child to question themselves,” she says, “especially from a school who is supposed to be teaching God’s love. I also want people to never be afraid to stand up for what you believe in, even if you’re standing alone.”
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