LifeSiteNews reports that though attendance at the performance was not required for everyone, officials at Grace Church School in downtown Manhattan urged students to dance and play along with the drag queen.
"Although it may be a Christian school, it's only in name, because obviously what it did was not Christian," responds Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel. "It was absolutely outrageous and despicable."
From a constitutional point, the independent Episcopalian school is a private entity, which means no constitutional provisions would apply in this situation. But Staver says that does not mean the school was not out of line.
"The parents have the power -- not the school," he points out. "They're the ones that pay the tuition, they're the ones that pay the salaries, and if they collectively come together to push back against this outrage, then this would stop."
The school's "core requirement in chapel is to sit quietly and with respect, observing the rule that 'one behaves courteously in another person's house,'" but drag queen and LGBT activist Jesse Havea's surprise appearance during the April 27 chapel service included dancing up the aisle in exaggerated and vulgar attire as rows of masked students were encouraged to participate and applaud.
As students entered chapel that day, they were met by a person handing out stickers with Pride flags on them and telling everyone to "take one or you're homophobic." Some students had no problem with the event, but others did not want to "pretend that this was normal for church."
The event was a reflection of the school's declared committment to "inclusion," "diversity," and "antiracism. Grace Church School serves roughly 800 students from pre-K through 12th grade, and they are required to go to chapel services once a week through eighth grade and every other week through high school.
