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In January 2020, we received multiple inquiries from readers about the accuracy of news reports that claimed a Christian private school in Kentucky had expelled a student after a photograph emerged on social media that showed her wearing a rainbow-patterned sweater and sitting in front of a birthday cake with a rainbow design. The student in question has been named in multiple news reports and social media postings, but Snopes is not naming her, and is publishing only a pixellated photograph of her, because she is a minor who has not herself made any public pronouncement relating to the controversy. On Jan. 14, for example, the New York Daily News published an article with the headline Kentucky Teenager Takes Picture Wearing Rainbow Shirt; School Expels Her For 'Lifestyle Violations.' The article reported that: Similar articles were published by the Huffington Post, Daily Mail, Fox News, and NBC News. The story was first reported by the Louisville, Kentucky-based television channel WAVE. On Jan. 15, a spokesperson for Whitefield Academy provided a statement to WAVE, stating that the student had not been expelled solely on the basis of the birthday photograph, but had already committed multiple violations of the school's student code of conduct, and had been given a final warning. The statement read: The school's statement did not explicitly confirm that the photograph posted to Facebook by Alford, showing her daughter celebrating her birthday, had been the catalyst for the decision to expel her, but taken with other evidence, it certainly appears to have been a tacit acknowledgement. Alford appears to have provided WAVE with an email sent to the student's parents on Jan. 6, in which Whitefield Academy's Head of School Bruce Jacobson purportedly cited a recent picture, posted on social media, which demonstrates a posture of morality and cultural acceptance contrary to that of Whitefield Academy's beliefs. The email added: Per our in-person meeting on October 17, 2019, we made it clear that any further promotion, celebration or any actions and attitudes that are counter to Whitefield's philosophy would not be tolerated. As a result, we regret to inform you that [the student in question] is being dismissed from the school, effective immediately. On Dec. 30 and Dec. 31, Alford posted the following photograph to her Facebook account. It shows her daughter celebrating her 15th birthday in front of a rainbow-patterned cake, while wearing a rainbow-designed sweater: We asked Alford to provide Snopes with a copy of the email sent on Jan. 6, which contains an image file attachment of the photograph in question, but we did not receive a substantive response to our inquiries. Similarly, we asked Whitefield Academy to confirm that the photograph which was, in the school's own description, the catalyst for the student's expulsion, was indeed the birthday photograph, and that the posture of morality and cultural acceptance in question related to the fact that the rainbow is sometimes displayed and recognized as a symbol of LGBTQ pride and solidarity. We did not receive a substantive response to that question. However, the Whitefield Academy statement published on Jan. 15 came after a wave of national news reports about the controversy, all of which cited the same birthday photograph as the recent picture posted on social media that the school said had triggered the student's expulsion. The school's statement made a point of saying that the recently posted photograph had been only the catalyst for the student's expulsion, and not its sole basis, but the statement did not refute the widely publicized and repeated claim that the photograph in question was the one that showed the student wearing a rainbow sweater while celebrating her birthday with a rainbow cake. This strongly suggests, but doesn't quite confirm, that the photograph that triggered the school's decision to expel the student in question was indeed the birthday photograph. We asked both Alford and Whitefield Academy whether they could provide any details about the student's numerous alleged previous violations of the school's student code of conduct, but we did not receive a substantive response from either. We asked Whitefield Academy to cite the exact sections of the code of conduct that they claimed the student had violated previously, as well as the section of the code that was purportedly violated in the publication of the photograph, especially in light of the fact that it appears the photograph was posted only by Alford, but not by her daughter, the student herself. We did not receive a substantive response to that question, either. The only publicly available version of Whitefield Academy's student/parent handbook dates to 2014, so it's not clear whether all its provisions are still in force. However, one section perhaps provides a clue as to the rationale behind the student's expulsion. It reads: Whitefield Academy’s Biblical role is to work in conjunction with the home to mold students to be Christlike. On occasion, the atmosphere or conduct within a particular home may be counter or in opposition to the Biblical lifestyle the school teaches. This includes, but is not limited to, sexual immorality, homosexual orientation, or the inability to support Biblical standards of right and wrong (Rom. 1:18-32, I Cor. 6:9). If the home environment is not in harmony with the school’s doctrinal belief in the centrality of Jesus Christ and the authority of Scripture and Biblical lifestyle, it will be difficult for the school to cooperate with the home and achieve the goal of a student becoming Christ-like. In such cases, the school reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to refuse admission of an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student. Based on the evidence presented in existing news reports, as well as the statement issued by Whitefield Academy on Jan. 15, it does appear that the school's decision to expel the student in question was triggered by the appearance online of a photograph that showed her celebrating her 15th birthday, wearing a rainbow-patterned sweater and sitting in front of a rainbow-designed cake. However, despite our requests, neither the girl's mother nor the school itself provided confirmation of that claim, or corroborating evidence for it. Although the school did clearly confirm that the publication of a photograph on social media had, in combination with a series of alleged previous code of conduct violations, proved the final catalyst for their decision to expel the student, the school has not yet publicly confirmed which photograph it was, nor provided any details about the student in question's alleged previous violations. As a result of these gaps in the available evidence, we are issuing a rating of Unproven. If we receive further relevant information or evidence, we will update this fact check accordingly.
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