Five-year-old Louisiana resident Zoey Parker has had a lot to endure in her life at such a young age. Her father died in 2020 due to an industrial accident, and her mother is also no longer alive. In response, Zoey’s biological aunt, Emily Parker, and Emily’s spouse, Jennie Parker, decided to adopt the orphaned little girl.

While being adopted by a close relative might sound like a magical end to the sad story, it was not. It actually caused another stressful experience for the entire Parker family.

When Zoey was 4 years old, before her adoption was official, she was enrolled at a school called Bible Baptist Academy in DeQuincy. A year later, when she was 5, she was all set to go back to the same school as a kindergartener. Emily explained that they bought Zoey school uniforms and attended an open house at the school, but just three days after Zoey’s adopted was finalized and just two days before the start of the school year, the Parkers were called in to the school to meet with the pastor.

Emily explained, “The pastor met us in the meeting room and started talking about gender identification, and that they teach the words of the lord, and that marriage is between a man and a woman.” She added, “And that they didn’t think this was a good fit.”

Basically, the pastor told Emily and Jennie that Zoey was not able to go to school there any more because of her new adopted parents same-sex marriage. Emily called the meeting “a big slap in the face.”

Emily later shared the story on social media, and it does have a happy ending. Zoey is now enrolled at a different Christian school called Hamilton Christian Academy. In a Facebook post, Emily wrote, “She has so many more opportunities now. This school was so accepting, they are non denominational, and have many cultures, races, and religions roaming their halls! How amazing!”

In the same Facebook post, Emily slammed Bible Baptist Academy for “the many wrong doings of this church.” She also took the opportunity to thank everyone who has supported them during this stressful time. She wrote, “We feel so blessed to have an army at our side. We have never felt alone in this endeavor. The community, our friends, and our family has had our backs.”

Bible Baptist Academy has not officially commented on the controversy, but they did post a message on their website stating, “At BBA, we are committed to instructing and living in accordance with the teachings of Scripture. We believe that the Bible teaches that every life has value and that there is dignity in all of us because we have been created in the image of God. The Bible also teaches us to love everyone with the love of God despite their personal choices. We strive to teach this to the students who attend. We encourage them to show love and compassion to everyone. As a Baptist academy, we are also committed to provide an environment that is consistent with the beliefs that we hold. We want our students to not only know our beliefs, but we want them to see them as well. Regarding personal relationships, we hold that those relationships, whether in dating or in marriage, should be between a man and a woman.”

The statement continues, “There are times where our commitment to upholding our Christian values will not line up with the values of other people. This should not be interpreted that we have any hatred or malice toward them. We are just as committed to loving all people as we are to holding the Bible principles that people may not agree with or may not understand.”