As the daughter of a Tennessee pastor, Brielle Penkoski is no stranger to expressing her faith.
So she wasn’t scared when she decided to stand up for Christian values at her school.
But she never could have predicted the backlash that came from wearing this simple T-shirt.
After witnessing her school succumb to the power of the LGBTQ agenda, Brielle wanted to take a bold stand for biblical values.
So, she wore a simple black T-shirt that stated “homosexuality is a sin” in capital white letters.
The T-shirt referenced 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, which states, “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.”
“Neither the sexually immoral and idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Brielle—who takes Scripture seriously—knew it was important to stand up for the integrity and truth of the Bible at a time when the liberal movement is degrading it.
“She wanted to do this on her own,” said Brielle’s father, Reverend Rich Penkoski.
“She wanted to go there [to school] to…express her values like all the other kids do.”
Brielle had seen classmates wearing pro-LGBTQ attire and so she wanted to exercise the same right to free expression and share biblical truth with her peers and teachers.
But when she arrived at school, she was promptly informed that she would need to change clothes or go home.
In other words, the school administrators demanded Brielle deny her beliefs about homosexuality in order to stay in school.
Brielle refused to change out of her T-shirt, which some administrators called a gesture of “hate speech,” and was sent home immediately.
The school principal, Richard Melton, even claimed that the shirt was not allowed in school since it featured a “sexual connotation,” but it was obviously just an attempt to silence the Christian message.
After all, other students and teachers had displayed stickers and clothing that push the openly sexual LGBTQ agenda.
“They’ve got kids walking around with the pride symbol on their sneakers and pride clothing and nobody bats an eye,” Rev. Penkoski argued.
“It’s not fair…that she’s told that she can’t wear that shirt and other people can wear the stuff that they wear.”
“She was basically censored,” Rev. Penkoski continued.
This silencing of young Christian and conservative students seems to be a growing movement, according to Penkoski.
Public schools across the country, including Brielle’s, are “pushing Joe Biden” and censoring students who approach current issues from any perspective that contradicts the left.
“If a Christian comes up there and repeats what the Bible says, they are seen as intolerant, they are seen as hateful,” said Rev. Penkoski.
“[But] simply saying ‘homosexuality is a sin’ is not hate speech,” he continued. “That’s what the Bible says. And we need to start preaching truthfully.”
The pastor is right – calling Brielle’s clothing “hate speech” is another dangerous step on the slippery slope of anti-Christian propaganda.
Penkoski’s sentiments are echoed by several other Christian leaders, including Pastor Dale Walker, president of the Tennessee Pastors Network.
Brielle’s suspension was “an indication of what is happening in our school systems,” Walker observed.
“They’re trying to drive the indoctrination down the throats of the students. They want the students to cower down and not be able to wear a shirt that has a Bible verse on it.”
“They can fly your rainbow flags but then you have a Christian student who wants to express her deeply held beliefs and she is unable to.”
“Our elected officials have to return the power of the schools back to the people,” Walker urged grimly.
“If not, the indoctrination will continue and it will get markedly worse.”
Rev. Penkoski added, “This is a movement. They’re trying to recruit kids, they’re trying to indoctrinate kids with liberal ideology, promoting sex and sexuality to kids.”
“The schools are supposed to teach…they’re not supposed to push issues of faith. They’re not supposed to be pushing a political ideology.”
But public schools will doubtless continue to push leftist ideas unless students like Brielle keep standing up for truth!
Pray for Brielle and other Christian students. May God help them stand strong for truth in an education system that tries to suppress their beliefs at every turn.
