Parents Withdraw Students from Catholic School for Anti-LGBTQ+ Decision

Several parents have pulled their children out of a Portland, Oregon Catholic school after it denied admission to children of gay parents.  

Citing the St. Agatha Catholic School’s exclusion as incompatible with their core values, many of these families are switching their enrollment to other area Catholic schools that are more inclusive of LGBTQ+ families.

Pro-LGBTQ+ chalk messages protesting St. Agatha’s exclusionary decision displayed at the front entrance of the Portland school.

As Bondings 2.0 has previously reported, St. Agatha Catholic School’s decision to rescind admission to the children of a same-gender couple in August sparked outrage and protest among other parents in the community. Now, at least four different families have left St. Agatha and one teacher has resigned due to the school’s decision to deny admission to LGBTQ+ families.

Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) spoke with four different families who recently pulled their children from St. Agatha, and all identified the school’s actions towards the LGBTQ+ family as their cause for leaving the school. Sarah Wilson, who had two children enrolled at St. Agatha, said:

“My level of trust and respect with the leadership was just fundamentally undermined. Just the way that the entire situation was handled, with just an utter lack of transparency and utter lack of accountability.”

Another parent, Erin McGibbon, began the process of transferring her daughter in part because of the importance of LGBTQ+ people in her family’s life:

“We can’t stand in front of a community that we love and our child loves and somehow say to them, ‘This decision is something we can live with.’” 

Eighth-grade teacher Sam Lloyd likewise felt that he could not in good conscience remain with the school, and resigned from his position after learning of the incident. Lloyd explained:

“The decision itself just goes against my personal values.I don’t see why we should not admit the child of gay parents. I don’t find a strong theological argument for it.”

Several of the families who have chosen to leave St. Agatha are transferring their children to either Holy Family or St. Ignatius, two other Catholic schools in the area who are considered to be more tolerant towards LGBTQ+ individuals. While representatives from Holy Family and St. Ignatius declined to comment on the exact number of families who have transferred to their schools, Holy Family Principal Joe Galati did confirm that “three to four” families have recently transferred from St. Agatha to Holy Family.

 Wilson repoeted that she saw as many as eight families from St. Agatha now sending their children  Holy Family who had previously been attending St. Agatha. 

While the exact number of transferring families is unknown, it is clear that numerous Catholic parents recognize the decision made by the pastor of St. Agatha to be one of exclusion and not as representative of their Catholic values. Spurred on by their faith, these families have sought out Catholic schools that model inclusion, not rejection, and it is a hopeful fact that there are several examples of Catholic schools that provide that hospitable, welcoming environment to all. 

—Phoebe Carstens, New Ways Ministry, November 14, 2025