On Tuesday the 19th, a Louisiana public school told students they were invited to a field trip to a “career & college fair,” but were instead taken to a non-consensual church service. The 2,000 students were tricked by their adult supervisors and publicly shamed for “sinning.” The service not only included anti-LGBTQ preachings, but also held male students outside and forced them to do push-ups in 100 degree heat, told female students to “forgive their abusers,” and poured water over transgender students.

This day traumatized students in a highly illegal way, as their freedom of religion was violated. The flier for this college fair turned to church service advertised free food, fun games, and live music. On the permission slip guardians had signed, the only information provided was a signature allowing their students to participate in a “Day of Hope,” with no further elaboration as to what that is. 

Regardless of someone’s beliefs, this event should not have taken place, especially in a public school with unsuspecting students. Children were punished for who they were when all they were expecting was to learn about their future. The leaders of this event were not interested in the students’ college decisions, but they were instead interested in spreading their ideals to uninterested parties. 

“People are so concerned about [LGBT ideas] indoctrinating [their] kids. But the reality of that is, these people have it twisted. They’re the ones pushing their inhuman thoughts and beliefs, forcing it down our throats… Also, the fact that this was even allowed to happen in our modern day full of immense improvement and progress is absurd,” said senior student Ash Kraus.

“I swear things are just getting worse and worse and it’s scary,” said another senior student, Samantha Miller. These high school students were put in a dangerous situation by adults whose job is to keep them safe. The action of this Louisiana public school was unconstitutional and an infraction of these teenagers rights.