Missouri Synod High School Bars Gay Valedictorian From Giving Graduation Address

Nat Werth.

Hate is alive and well at Sheboygan Lutheran High School, a private secondary school in Sheboygan, Wisconsin near the University of Wisconsin–Sheboygan campus.  The school is operated by the Lutheran High School Association of the Greater Sheboygan Area, Inc., an association of Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod congregations in the Sheboygan area.  Not to be confused with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA") - the good Lutherans, if you will - to which I belong, the Missouri Synod churches seek to out do the Southern Baptist Convention when it comes to embracing ignorance and directing hatred toward those who do not subscribe to the denomination's Bronze Age version of scripture.  Thus, it is no surprise that the "godly folk" at Sheboygan Lutheran High School would not allow the school's 2019 valedictorian to give the graduation address because he is gay and, heavens forbid, acknowledged that he is gay. A piece in LGBTQ Nation looks at the bigotry that sadly is the norm in the Missouri Synod and its affiliated institutions.  Here are excerpts:

A school in Wisconsin has been accused of preventing their valedictorian from delivering his speech at commencement because he’s gay.

Nat Werth graduated first in his class at Sheboygan Lutheran High School. He was going to deliver the valedictorian’s speech, until school administrators read a draft.

“On my own journey to self-acceptance, I have trekked through the depths of depression, found that God’s love is endless, and embraced the fact that I’m gay,” Werth planned to say in his speech.

“Absolutely no one should have to go through what I have gone through simply to come to the conclusion that homosexuality is not a sin. God created everyone just the way they are and never intended for the church to disenfranchise an entire group of people.”

The speech went on to say that homophobic readings of the Bible are “outdated, mistranslated, or misinterpreted in their respectively Biblical, cultural, and historical contexts.”

“The Bible mentions ‘love’ over 500 times,” Werth’s speech continued. “I sincerely believe that the next generation of Christians will eradicate homophobia in the church and proclaim God’s love to the LGBT community.”

Werth said that when he handed in the draft he “wanted to work together” with the administration to make a speech that they would approve of, but they said that they didn’t “trust” him to deliver anything they could agree to.

So he had to watch the salutatorian deliver a speech in his stead.

This isn’t the first time Werth has faced discrimination at his school. He said that he was banned from joining the dance team because he’s a boy and that teachers said on multiple occasions that homosexuality is an “abomination.”

The school’s executive director, Paul Gnan, did not comment on this situation but said that the school’s policies are based on biblical principles.

“It’s degrading and it makes a person feel terrible about themselves,” Werth told WISN.
He said that he took his story to the media because “I don’t want anyone to have to go through what I went through again in the future.”

As the school executive director stated, hate, bigotry and discrimination are "biblical values" at Sheboygan Lutheran High School.  It is a shame that Werth's parents sent him to such a reprehensible school that seems fixated on turning out closed minded bigots for graduates.  Anyone seeking to share their outrage with the school can use this contact information:  Sheboygan Lutheran High School, 3323 University Drive, Sheboygan, WI 53081; (920) 452-3323

Fax (920) 452-1310.