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Exposechristianschools

2019Hashtag / social media campaignsemi-active

Published March 30, 2026

Also known as: Expose Christian Schools

#ExposeChristianSchools is a viral Twitter hashtag created on January 18, 2019, by ex-evangelical writer Chris Stroop. The hashtag called on former students of private Christian schools to share stories of discrimination, anti-LGBTQ policies, anti-science curricula, and institutional abuse. It exploded after news broke that Second Lady Karen Pence had taken a teaching job at a Virginia school with explicit bans on LGBTQ students and employees, and was further boosted by the Covington Catholic High School controversy that same weekend.

hashtag memes culture war memes lgbtq memes christian school controversy memes

Overview

#ExposeChristianSchools is a hashtag used on Twitter (now X) to catalog firsthand accounts from alumni of private Christian schools in the United States. Users posted personal stories about anti-LGBTQ discrimination, creationism taught as science, misogyny, whitewashed history, and emotional or physical abuse by school staff6. The hashtag works as a collective testimony format, with each tweet adding another entry to a growing public archive.

While the majority of posts detailed negative experiences, the hashtag also drew defenders of Christian education who shared positive stories using the same tag7. This tug-of-war turned #ExposeChristianSchools into a flashpoint in broader American debates about religious education, LGBTQ rights, school voucher programs, and the role of faith in public life.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter
Creator
Chris Stroop
Date
2019

On January 15, 2019, HuffPost reported that Karen Pence, wife of Vice President Mike Pence, would be returning to teach art at Immanuel Christian School in Northern Virginia2. The school's employment application required candidates to sign a pledge against "homosexual or lesbian sexual activity" and "transgender identity"2. Its parent agreement refused admission to students who "participate in or condone homosexual activity," and the application stated the school believes "a wife is commanded to submit to her husband as the church submits to Christ"2.

LGBTQ advocacy groups condemned the move immediately. JoDee Winterhof of the Human Rights Campaign asked why Pence wouldn't "teach at a school that welcomes everyone, instead of choosing one that won't serve LGBTQ kids"2. Karen Pence's spokeswoman dismissed the criticism as "absurd," noting that Pence had previously taught at the school for 12 years2.

Three days after the HuffPost report, on January 18, Chris Stroop launched the hashtag. Stroop, a freelance writer with a PhD in Russian history who identifies as an "exvangelical," tweeted: "Hey fellow Christian school grads, let's tell @VP and @DavidAFrench how traumatizing those bastions of bigotry are. Use the hashtag #ExposeChristianSchools"5. The tweet earned more than 660 retweets and 1,400 likes in under a week5.

Stroop, who attended Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis from first grade through high school, later explained that Pence's decision "signalled that she was not interested in trying to represent all Americans, but only those who fit into a Christian nationalist view of the nation"1.

How It Spread

The hashtag spread rapidly over the January 18-20 weekend. Former students flooded Twitter with personal accounts that ranged from disturbing to absurd. One widely shared tweet described being pulled out of class after a "concerned friend" told the principal about the poster's sexuality, then being "compared to rapists and murderers" and told to consider conversion therapy before expulsion mid-junior year4. Another described a seventh-grade science review where students were told "Christians should avoid saying that different species are 'related'" because the word implied evolution4.

Stories covered a broad range of abuses. Girls were told their "degree/career/life meant nothing" without a future husband6. A sex education teacher claimed sex creates "an unbreakable blood bond," which one survivor noted "convinced me that I was forever bound to my abuser"4. A tweet about coaches walking away while bullied boys got "heads flushed in the commodes" drew hundreds of retweets6. Another user described a teacher slamming a student's shoulder against a chair for pointing out that Muslims weren't "moon worshipping barbarians"6.

The timing collided with the Covington Catholic High School incident, where students attending the March for Life were filmed in a confrontation with a Native American man at the Lincoln Memorial8. That controversy added fuel as criticism of Christian educational institutions intensified across platforms8.

By January 20, YouTuber Mr Atheist posted a video titled "Reading from #ExposeChristianSchools on Twitter- People are Mad!" that pulled in 68,000 views within two days5. The Daily Dot also covered the trend that same day5.

The hashtag caught the New York Times' attention. Reporter Dan Levin asked Twitter users to share their experiences, drawing over 9,000 responses7. The Times published a feature covering both critical and supportive accounts, with Northwestern University professor Elizabeth Shakman Hurd noting that "many Christians fear that their way of life is being threatened" and that they "feel their moral certitudes and sense of community are being ridiculed"3.

One defender's tweet reading "I went to a Christian school and learned way more about the Holocaust, civil rights and even Hiroshima than I did at my public university" picked up 1,700 likes, making it one of the most-engaged positive responses7.

How to Use This Meme

The #ExposeChristianSchools format is straightforward. Users typically share a personal anecdote from their time at a Christian school, focusing on a specific incident of discrimination, misinformation, or abuse. The hashtag goes at the end or is woven into the text.

Common patterns include:

1

A brief setup naming the school type (evangelical, Catholic, etc.)

2

A specific story, teacher quote, or policy description

3

The hashtag #ExposeChristianSchools at the end

Cultural Impact

#ExposeChristianSchools drew sharp lines across American political and religious media. Conservative outlets framed it as anti-Christian bigotry. CBN News highlighted the Association of Christian Schools International's statement that the coverage reflected "misunderstanding and misrepresentation" of Christian education7. Breitbart characterized the hashtag as part of "heightened hostility toward Christians" and linked it to the media's initial mishandling of the Covington Catholic story9.

The hashtag was tweeted more than 200,000 times in 2019 according to Stroop1. It trended again in later months as debates over school voucher programs and the federal Equality Act kept the underlying issues in the news1. Stroop pointed to a HuffPost investigation showing that 2,400 voucher-funded Christian schools used curricula from publishers like Abeka and BJU Press that pushed "a religion-centered, anti-Democrat, anti-science, anti-multicultural message"1.

The conversation also intersected with broader political moves. On January 21, 2019, President Trump tweeted support for proposed Bible-class legislation in six states, writing "Starting to make a turn back? Great!" and drawing over 54,000 responses3.

A writer for Christian Learning & News offered a conciliatory take, arguing the hashtag "may be a cry for help from the world to the Church" and urging institutions to listen rather than lash out: "Where apologies are needed, apologize. Where restitution is needed, then resolve it"8.

Fun Facts

Chris Stroop's Twitter bio at the time read: "That #exvangelical your pastor warned you about"6.

Karen Pence had previously taught at Immanuel Christian School for 12 years while Mike Pence was in Congress, and their daughter Charlotte attended the school2.

The school's employment application asked potential teachers to explain their view of the "creation/evolution debate"2.

One tweet shared photos from a 5th-grade health textbook from the A Beka Christian curriculum, sparking its own mini-viral thread about the contents of Christian school materials4.

Christian Learning & News argued that both public and private schools practice forms of indoctrination, writing that "every school has a culture they want incorporated into you"8.

Derivatives & Variations

#ExposePubicSchools and #ExposeMuslimSchools:

Counter-hashtags created by critics who viewed the original as unfairly targeting Christians, attempting to redirect scrutiny toward other educational systems[9].

Mr Atheist's YouTube video:

A January 20 reaction video reading and commenting on the hashtag's tweets, reaching 68,000 views in two days and bringing the conversation to YouTube audiences[5].

Dan Levin's NYT Twitter thread:

The Times reporter's call for stories became its own sub-conversation with 9,000+ responses, splitting into both positive and negative testimonials about Christian education[7].

Frequently Asked Questions