Tennessee High School Suspends Student After Coming Out Post

What was a cute social media hard-launch/coming out post has turned high school senior Morgan Armstrong’s life upside down. Armstrong has now filed a lawsuit against her private school, Tennessee Christian Preparatory, after her April 24 post of a series of sweet photos with her girlfriend on Facebook ended in her suspension.

After posting the photos, with the caption, “[C]at’s outta the bag,” Armstrong privately messaged her friends writing, “[G]o like and comment on my post guys bc if no one on my socials knew I was gay then they sure as hell do now so this is a big thing tbh, also I’m kinda scared about the facebook comments bc i have some ruthless trump supporting “jesus” mfs on there.” A few days later, Armstrong and her family were called into the school for a meeting.

The family was presented with a document informing Armstrong that she had been suspended after the school got access to the privately shared message. The school alleges that Armstrong’s post was a “disparaging remark reflecting people at Tennessee Christian.” Referring to the message, the suspension document states, “The comment reflected on the institution, faculty, staff, alumni, and students in the most negative possible way.” 

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In the lawsuit, Armstrong’s lawyers clarify that the private message was never publicly posted to social media and was in no way referring to the school. Instead, the comment “referred to members of Morgan’s own family with whom she was connected on social media—people who, in Morgan’s view, profess but do not practice Christian principles of love, acceptance, and compassion.”

Laid out below the school’s allegations were the terms of Armstrong’s punishment: she was barred from entering campus or any school events including graduation; she would receive her diploma via mail; she was prohibited from commenting on the school or the school would intervene in her college admissions process and, if she were to comment on the school, her diploma was to be withheld. 

In the complaint filed in Bradley County Chancery Court this week, Armstrong’s representation claims that this suspension was not due to a violation of the school’s social media policy but instead a manifestation of the institution’s homophobia. In the school’s most recent handbook, the Marriage, Gender and Sexuality section reads, “We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matt 15:18-20; I Cor 6:9-10.)”

Armstrong’s representation also claims that the school has not followed their own Disciplinary Policy with this suspension. The school’s progressive policy, in which the consequences increase alongside the number of infractions, lists the punishment for a first-time social media infraction as a one-day, in-school suspension. Armstrong instead received the highest level of consequence via her over 10-day-long suspension. 

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The lawsuit requests that, should the school lose the case, they must expunge Armstrong’s suspension record, permit Armstrong to take the finals she was prevented from taking which tanked her grades, and that the court must forbid the withholding of her diploma and must forbid the school from “sabotaging” Armstrong’s college admissions process. 

Head of School at Tennessee Christian Prep, Jared Tilley, released a statement on behalf of the school, claiming that they have yet to be served with process for the lawsuit and expressed “deep disappointment over the inaccuracies contained in the alleged filing.” Tilley added that the school remains committed to delivering Armstrong’s diploma (despite the threats given to her in the suspension letter) and ended the statement writing, “We wish Morgan Armstrong the very best as she continues her academics in college.”