A private school in the San Francisco Bay Area really wanted to recruit a baseball star to go to their school and play on their team. But it completely dropped its pursuit when they learned that his parents are gay.Rising high-school freshman Caleb Degala-Burnett and his dads, Mike Degala and Master Burnett, claim that coaches and administrators at Valley Christian, in Dublin, California, were impressed with the 14-year-old outfielders performance at a recent invite-only showcase and with his ranking as a college prospect and potential pro draft pick, according to the San Francisco Standard. The family says Valley Christian courted Caleb this past spring, going so far as to offer financial assistance to help cover the schools $24,000-per-year tuition. Related A school banned all books with LGBTQ+ parents. Now people are fighting back. They filed a federal complaint, hoping the Biden administration will step in. In a March 5 text message, Valley Christians baseball coach told Degala that Calebs name came up last night a few times and we really want him to be a part of a great school, according to The Standard. In a separate text, vice executive of schools Joe Fuca reportedly told Degala that Valley Christian was all in on Caleb playing varsity baseball for us next year. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today But Degala says the schools tune abruptly changed in April, when Fuca told him that the Degala-Burnett family didnt align with the schools Christian values. Degala says Fuca also expressed concern that the school would lose supporters if it enrolled Caleb.I felt angry about it, because it really shouldnt matter what your family is, Caleb told The Standard. It should matter about the student and how they are as a person.Ive never, to this magnitude, experienced this type of discrimination against our family, Degala told the paper. In this day and age, its crazy.However, as The Standard notes, it in fact remains legal for private schools to discriminate against students based on their sexuality or the sexual orientation of their parents. When the paper polled 10 Bay Area Christian high schools, only one responded saying it would accept LGBTQ+ students or students whose parents are LGBTQ+. Among those that did not respond, only one explicitly bans homophobia in its student handbook and employment policies. The paper cited four other Bay Area Christian high schools that explicitly reject homosexuality and same-sex marriage in their materials. Its legal on paper; its not morally right, Equality California communications director Jorge Reyes Salinas said. This is unacceptable regardless of the schools private or religious status.Responding to The Standards story, out California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D) blasted Valley Christians treatment of the Degala-Burnett family as absolutely vile.This kid just wants to go to school & play baseball. Hes a top talent. Yet, the school rejected him explicitly because his parents are gay, Wiener, who represents San Francisco, wrote in a June 17 Bluesky post. This kind of hatred is now escalating under our bigoted federal administration. He added that the president is giving permission for this poison.As for the Degala-Burnetts, Caleb now plans to attend a local public high school in the fall. Degala says Valley Christians rejection of his son is their loss. And Caleb remains curious about Christianity. He described the experience with Valley Christian as just one little setback.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.