A BAPTIST school in Houston, Texas, sacked long-serving physical education instructor Kristi Maris, ringed above, after it got wind of the fact that she posed for a picture with three drag queens earlier this month and shared it on social media.
The senior pastor at First Baptist Academy in Baytown justified the decision to fire Maris, a teacher at the school for 19 years, by referring to a school policy that staff have to adhere to. It states:
I will act in a godly and moral fashion at work, on Facebook and in my community.
A shocked but defiant Maris explained to ABC13 the circumstances that led her and a colleague—who was also sacked—to attend a drag event at a popular local venue, Hamburger Mary’s in Houston.
She said she had always wanted to go to the venue, and finally did so on July 13 with her co-worker and her daughters.
She had such a good time that she proudly posted photos and videos on Facebook the next day, with the caption, “This was a blast!!!!”
And she said:
Oh yeah, I’ll do it again, It was too much fun, and it was good music!
Kirsti Maris told ABC13 that she and her colleague were “treated like criminals.” ABC13 screenshot
She told ABC13:
They’re entertainers. I would’ve never thought in a million years that this would happen. Never. We were in disbelief. We still are. We were heartbroken. We had relationships with parents and the kids, and I didn’t even get to say goodbye to a lot of the kids.
She added:
For almost 20 years, I’ve taught children to love each other. I’ve talked to them and told them, ‘You have to get along. God loves us all equally.’
And that’s the way we should be. We should love everybody, and that’s what we’ve been teaching, but they’re expecting us not to do that.
In a July 24 Facebook post, Maris wrote:
As of today I was fired from my Job of 20 years for attending a sing along show at Hamburger Mary’s. Before ever getting the news of my termination it had spread like wildfire in the church and school.
They told me because I went to this show and posted a picture I wasn’t walking in a Godly manner …
Funding appeal launched
Christian Post reports that that, in response to Maris’ firing, Hamburger Mary’s announced a benefit show for her and her colleague and to:
Help raise awareness that drag queens and the [LGBT] community are not bad people. We accept and love everyone!
The restaurant also launched a GoFundMe for Maris, which has raised over $8,000 as of today (Monday).
First Baptist Academy Baytown has a stated objective of “offering a solid Biblical foundation and high achieving academics” for its students.
Last month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill that bans drag performances in the presence of children throughout the state.
Under Senate Bill 12, anyone younger than 18 is prohibited from attending “sexually oriented” events and businesses that host such events are subject to fines as large as $10,000 for each violation.
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