The director of a high school accused of threatening to expel gay student and viral vlogger Austin WallisÂ for being openly gay is affirming its right to dictate beliefs and behavior.

17-year old Austin Wallis this week posted a video to YouTube accusing his private Texas Christian high school principal of threatening him with expulsion if he did not remove his social media postings and, essentially, go back in the closet.

The tearful nearly ten-minute video went viral. It’s been viewed almost 200,000 times since February 1.

In the video, Wallis specifically states he is not naming his school, despite the abusive manner in which he was treated, because he genuinely believesÂ many of his teachers love him and, having relocated to a different school, he does not wish to create issues for them. Certainly a generous gesture.

Journalist John Wright, however, was able to identify Wallis’ school and contacted the principal who, in an email, claims the “allegations you received have been misrepresented.”Â

Meanwhile,Â Wayne Kramer, the executive director of the Lutheran Education Association of Houston, which runs Wallis’ school and two others, offered a startling yet legal explanation to Wallis’ charges.

Wallis’ now-former school “welcomes all students and their families,” Kramer wrote. But he added that they “profess and proclaim our Christian beliefs with the foundations and authority taught in the Bible, all within the teachings of the Lutheran Church â€“ Missouri Synod.”

TheÂ Lutheran Church â€“ Missouri Synod boasts nearly two million members in the United States, and believes that the office of the Pope, although not the Pope himself, is the Antichrist.Â

“We respectfully require students to adhere to these accepted values and moral beliefs,’ Kramer’s statement continues. “Sometimes, as in this case, students have to make choices and decide whether their beliefs align with our community and we respect their choices. We also respect student privacy and do not comment on any individual student or their actions.”

Wallis’ principal shared a morals clause that statesÂ the school “reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to refuse admission of an applicant and/or to discontinue enrollment of a current student participating in, promoting, supporting or condoning: pornography, sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bisexual activity; or displaying an inability or resistance to support the qualities and characteristics required of a Biblically based and Christ-like lifestyle.”

That ‘Biblically based and Christ-like lifestyle” includes, according to theÂ Lutheran Church â€“ Missouri Synod, the belief that homosexuality, which the Synod refers to as “homophile behavior,” is “intrinsically sinful.” It further condemns gay people, stating “homosexual behavior is contrary to God’s Word,” is “sexual idolatry,”Â and, pointing to a church document, callsÂ homosexuality “profoundly ‘unnatural.'”

The school, as it is a private religious institution, is most likely legally within its rights to emotionally abuse its students this way.

Here’s Wallis’ video:

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Editor’s note: Out of respect for Wallis not wanting to name his school we have not included that information in this report.

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Image via YouTube

Hat tip: Texas Observer

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