A National Issue

     It is important to recognize that FCA is not just a club that exists in Roswell. FCA is an international organization that is spreading its beliefs and teachings in a plethora of schools across the United States. At Bozeman High School in Montana, four students confronted FCA’s discriminatory beliefs and brought their concerns to the school board.

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     I sat down and spoke with Kate Bick, Maggie Callow, Katherine Callow, and Esmie Hurd about challenging FCA and trying to make their school more considerate and welcoming to all students. Katherine explained that on a family road trip, she and Maggie discovered a list of anti-LGBTQ+ organizations that Chick-fil-a was donating to. They noticed that one of the organizations, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, had the same name and logo as a club that was meeting on their school property. Upon further research, they realized that the club and organization were the same and possessed uniform beliefs.

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     Esmie explained that they had an issue with “the Statement of Faith which includes a ton of different Bible verses and one of them is about homosexuality” along with the club’s “sexual purity pledge which was a separate part of the Leadership Application on the website. It explained that you could not commit homosexual acts or have sex outside of marriage.” The girls came together and discussed their concerns with the club. Katherine explained that their “goal originally was that the school club would dissociate from the national organization” but “by the time they go to the school board it seemed like that wasn't going to be an option.” Once the girls realized their opening request was not going to be met they took another route. Katherine continued by explaining that after their previous request was turned down their new goal was to ensure “ that the school was not supporting or endorsing the message that the national organization had.” Esmie explained that they “tried to talk to [FCA’s] club leaders and they did not want to meet with us and told us to meet with the principal instead.” When they met with the principal Emsie explained that “[they] started by explaining [their] concern with the mental health of the LGBTQ+ community. Our school district also has a lot of non-discrimination ordinances” in addition to the town’s “non-discrimination ordinance along with the Montana constitution.” Katherine explained that “eventually they brought in the school lawyers and then it went to the school board and then we got a positive reaction.” Esmie explained that throughout the process “the school board determined to stop endorsing the club but the administration was remaining neutral.”

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     When asked about their peers and community members’ reactions to the girls coming forward with their concerns, Maggie said “a good number of people ended up hearing about it from what we brought up and were also concerned. A lot of friends I had, other people in the school, people in the community, or even teachers reached out to us and were also concerned.” Maggie continued by saying that “A few different students came out to [them] and said what a meaningful thing this was that we were doing it.” These girls stood up for what they believe in and were determined to make their school more sensitive and respectful of all students. Although FCA is a large international organization the girls at Bozeman High School have shown that, it is possible to stand up and use your voice to pressure and enlist positive change.