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Kentucky School Tells Students To Write A Letter To Homosexual Friend To 'Persuade Them' Away From 'Sin'

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A Christian school in Kentucky, Christian Academy of Louisville (CAL), gave their middle school students an assignment that created an outrage on social media. 

Students were asked to write a letter to an imaginary homosexual friend to convince them that being gay is a 'sin'.

The assignment mentioned that the friend is a close friend and someone they have known for a couple of years.

“The aim of your letter should be to lovingly and compassionately speak truth to the person you’re talking to in a way that does not approve of any sin,” the assignment read. 

“Instead, TRY TO PERSUADE THEM OF THE GOODNESS OF GOD’S DESIGN for them."

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The assignment further gives the students instructions on how to craft their letters and what content to include.

“In at least 8 sentences, try to show…that God’s design for them is good, that homosexuality will not bring them satisfaction, that you love them even though you don’t approve of their lifestyle,” the assignment read.

Twitter user, JP Davis, shared screenshots of this assignment on his Twitter page and expressed his disappointment. Davis later spoke about it stating that one of his friends' kids goes to that school and had that assignment.

He said, "Her kid is in the class that was given the assignment, and he and [she] are both uncomfortable with it. She doesn’t know how to handle it. … And her kid's upset."  

Davis himself is gay, he says, and came out when he was 23 years old. He opened up about how much he had to struggle because of his sexuality during those 23 years. 

As he is much older now, he doesn’t want anyone else to go through the same struggles he went through.

He said, "The statistics speak for themselves on suicide among LGBTQ+ people, and these are seventh-graders that are being subjected to hate and division, and it’s not necessary." 

Twitter has been blasting the Kentucky school's homophobic assignment.

While there were people who were defending the school and its assignment to ask for such a letter, many people criticized the school for doing such a thing. Many people shared similar experiences and problems with CAL in the past. 

One user wrote, “This makes me livid. My children attended this school and trust me I had numerous issues with the administration while there. But this is [abhorrent].”

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Another user wrote, “We specifically did not send our child to the preschool there because we would have had to sign a statement that parents were defined as ‘one woman and one man’ and went on to say only living in the same house if married. Hard pass.”

One user commented in defense, "There is literally nothing hateful in this assignment. The whole point is teaching how to get your values across with unconditional love and respect."

The Kentucky school defended its assignment claiming that it was given for the students to reflect on their ‘perspectives’ on the matter.

Darin Long, the superintendent of CAL spoke on the matter and explained the assignment in a written statement.

“[The assignment was] part of a unit of study which discusses 'What are humans and where is their identity?'...how a person could discuss homosexuality with a friend from a biblical perspective with compassion and love,” he wrote.

He further mentioned that it was a way for the students to reflect on their curriculum and what they have been learning.

He wrote, “This hypothetical friend conversation was for our students to review the class discussions and their perspectives on the subject. Moving forward, we will review this assignment to ensure there is clarity in its purpose and language."

He also mentioned that this assignment was given in a bible class and defended CAL by stating that a biblical view is reflected in the school content. 

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Sanika Nalgirkar is a writer who covers entertainment & news, lifestyle, and pop culture topics.