No 11-year-old should ever be told in class that they will "burn in hell" for being LGBTQ. Even though it has been many years, so long as they are still following the same catechistic editions, then they are still following the same "gays shall be stoned" philosophy. Bottom line: it is a Lutheran school. I attended this school from pre-school through 8th grade. My parents regret sending my brother and I here. They were extremely homophobic, conservative and will never truly understand how much they harmed me emotionally, mentally, and physically. For years I kept this secret, thinking my parents would disown me, I'd be kicked out of school, I'd be tormented by classmates. After being told "God does not associate with homosexuals," I prayed to God for hours before bed to "take away my homosexuality so I don't burn in hell." I now understand why God didn't do so: he made me this way and loves me the way I am. Of course, the principle and teachers will tell you (as they did the entire classroom), "That's just an excuse for gays' sinful behavior. Being LGBTQ is a choice!" This was the turning point to where I went through hell on earth because of this school and their teachings. I resorted to drugs, self-harm, dangerous behavior, and hated the world, my classmates, my teachers--and most of all--myself. After all these years, it still hurts because I believed in their idea of God and believed what the principle and teachers told me (and made me memorize), "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them." We now know that this verse has been reconstructed over centuries to fit the archaic judgements of men; we now know there is very strong evidence of editorial intervention in all homophobic verses in the Bible. We now know that God loves everyone and blessed you with the gift of life in the way that you are. A teacher also once grabbed me by the neck. She quickly realized she made a terrible decision. She never faced any discipline for it. If that happened in today's world, she would've faced disciplinary action. There was another teacher who would talk about Jesus and then swear and curse up a storm at recess. All of these ratings are from parents, none from them are from children who attended. I know others who were taken out of this school to be homeschooled. My brother blames it for a lot of his problems and I think he is justified in it. Opinions were expressed as incontrovertible fact in the classroom environment: 'God support's the death penalty,' for example. I was severely bullied by my classmates who called me "girly," "fag," "gay," "homo," and many harmful words that were never really addressed by the teachers in charge. I feel sorry for any LGBTQ student here and if you're reading this, know that Jesus loves you and to never be afraid to be yourself. One thing you don't want to do is stay in the closet as it will only continue to harm you. Talk to your parents. Tell them what is being shoved down your throat for memory work and in class. Don't be afraid to tell your classmates that God made you in your own special way. Stick up for yourself. Talk to your school counselor (if there even is one; there wasn't when I went here). And if it is ruining your education and mental health, you need to get out of there. I now am a social work major and successful public service officer after many years of torment and soul searching. read more
