Valor for Change: Students Protest for LGBTQ Equality

Valor for Change, an autonomous organization created by the students of Valor Christian High School, have come together to protest on behalf of LGBTQ students and staff.

The students of Valor Christian High School joined in protest after two of their former coaches—Inoke Tonga and Lauren Benner—were called into a surprise meeting, where they were questioned by the school’s staff in regard to their sexuality.

“I sat in the room being grilled about how being gay is a ‘danger’ to the school and to the kids. That with me ‘identifying as a gay man, they can’t put the kids at risk by having me in front of them,’” Tonga says in a Facebook post.

After sharing his experiences, Benner also came forward, sharing a similar experience that happened to her months earlier.

“I was still on a journey of self-discovery and so for someone, an employer nonetheless, to spontaneously ask me about my sexuality and dating life felt beyond violating,” she says an Instagram post.

Their students, along with local religious leaders, have since rallied around them, creating Valor for Change in the process.

“The time has come to reassess Valor’s values when it outright inflicts harm on students’ psyches and spiritual development,” says Reverend J. Andrew Daugherty, the Senior Pastor at Boulder’s Pine Street Church. “Many of our children’s lives and well-being depend on institutions like Valor to have as much valor as their LGBTQI+ students have shown by coming out with their stories. It is time for gracious inclusion, not gross condescension. Now is the time for Valor Christian High School to live up to their name. Now is the time to use their employment rights to do what is right, for repentance to be made and repair to be done.”

While religion has long played a part in discriminating against members of the LGBTQ community, theologians, translators, and LGBTQ religious leaders have long since stated what the Bible actually says about homosexuality.

Valor for Change has since created a list of demands to the board and staff of Valor Christian High School, the first of which calls for an acknowledgment of harm. “Valor must publicly acknowledge the harm caused by the administration, its environment, and its policies in regard to the testimonies. Valor must apologize to those who have been harmed by Valor.”

In spite of the incredible amount of work the students of Valor Christian High have put into Valor for Change, the school’s officials are still standing firm in their bigotry, further emphasizing why Congress must pass the Do No Harm Act, introduced to the House of Representatives earlier this year.

Despite this hurdle, Valor for Change is still holding firm, as students like Lucy Sarkissian continue to speak out. “I think that in this moment with Coach Inoke’s and Coach Benner’s stories being shared, we had a rare opportunity that had to be seized to have a discussion about Valor’s treatment of not just their faculty and coaches, but of their students and their culture as a whole.”

Another student, alumnus Cole Watson, has since started a public Google Doc, where students have been sharing their stories of discrimination at the hands of Valor Christian High School.

For more information or interview opportunities, contact Valor for Change organizer Amber Jackson via email at amber.jackson425@gmail.com.