Youth sports leagues are usually more than willing to accept any volunteers they can get. But that certainly wasn’t the case for a recreational basketball league in Northern Kentucky.
As a longtime basketball fan, Ayanna Mckinney volunteered as a referee at her son’s games in the Upward Sports program through a local Baptist church. But two church officials recently showed up at her home and informed her that she could no longer participate because she is a homosexual.
“I was just in disbelief,” Ayanna said according to WCPO. “I don’t know how they were that comfortable to come to our house and just tell us that.”
The move came after a cheerleading coach within the sports program raised concerns about Mckinney’s sexuality and church officials decided she could no longer participate.
Michael Gilbert, who was the coach of Mckinney’s son in the program, has been involved in Upward Sports for 20 years and said he’s never seen a family treated so poorly.
“It’s 2023, it’s time to move on,” Gilbert said. “Lesbians are allowed to get married in the state, but they’re not allowed to participate in their kids’ activities. How does that make sense?”
Gilbert and his fiancée said the church kept “rambling about Bible verses” when trying to justify their decision.
“It just blows my mind because, I mean, this church wants to live back like it’s the 1950s,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert plans to finish out the rest of the season as a coach to honor the commitment he made to the children but will not be participating in the program any longer.
“I’ll be darned if it happens to another family,” Gilbert said. “They’re just not Christian type people, for them to do what they did to a family like that.”
[WCPO]
