Catholic School Makes Two LGBT Teachers Resign After They Got Engaged, The Students Stage A Massive Walkout
As Josh Billings once said, “Honesty is the rarest wealth anyone can possess.” If you really think of this, it would seem that children are the wealthiest in this regard. Furthermore, they tend to overlook everything else and glance right into the core of what it means to be human and therefore stand up to injustice. That’s exactly what happened in Kennedy Catholic High in Burien, Seattle, where the students walked out protesting the resignation of two teachers who allegedly were forced to do so after getting engaged to their same-sex partners.
Students of Kennedy Catholic High walked out in protest against the forced resignation of two gay teachers
It might seem like a coincidence that both English teacher Paul Danforth and soccer coach Michelle Beattie quit their jobs in Kennedy Catholic High after they got engaged to their same-sex partners. And even though the school insists that these teachers quit voluntarily, Danforth’s fiance Sean Nyberg said Danforth was forced out soon after he got engaged at Disneyland on November 1.
Paul Danforth and Michelle Beattie both quit their jobs soon after getting engaged to their same-sex partners
Hearing this, their pupils just couldn’t stay quiet and flooded the hallways of their school in protest. They then later took the protest outside to the school’s front lawn where they were joined by their parents, many of whom described both teachers who were forced to resign as “highly capable”.
The students organized a mass walk-out after hearing the news
Turns out, the school actually requires teachers to sign a contract that the school can revoke if “the teacher’s lifestyle is incompatible with Catholic moral values or if his/her conduct is at variance with Catholic teaching. While some of the parents were certainly aware of this clause, they never thought the school would actually ever act on it and saw it as injustice.
Students went into the hallways and staged a sit-in, refusing to go back into their classrooms
Erika Dubois, a mother of one of the students who helped to plan the walkout said she had never expected the school to actually act upon the clause mentioned. “Would it have been applied if a teacher were divorced and remarried? Or had children out of wedlock?” She also added that she’s “sad about the message this sends to LGBTQ students: “We love and accept you but we can’t employ you.”
They then moved the protest to the front lawn where the parents joined in as well
Paul Danforth’s fiance, Sean Nyberg, was also convinced that the students were extremely brave to take action and said it was “braver than anything I’ve seen any adults do. The drive and the willingness to maybe get in trouble is pretty inspiring. And that the rest of the world is watching.”
People on the Internet admired their gesture
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Share on FacebookThey are so brave to do that! I like the guy who's sign said I'm gay. What's next - am I expelled? I'm also happy the parents joined in. Leggo lgbtq+++++
This is the same religion that considers homosexuality a terrible sin but didn't seem to find any fault in letting adult priests rape little children and teenagers.
Load More Replies...So what happened? Did they get their jobs back? I really hope so. I agree with the post that said what about divorced teachers and teachers with babies out of wedlock. Can't pick and choose. Every one should have the right to live life as they are fit as long as they aren't hurting anyone. I used to be catholic. The farther away from Christianity I get the happier and sane I get. And I feel like I'm living a more moral life than some people in church. I treat people equally and fairly, I try to look at all sides of situations before I make decisions, I treat all living things (animals, people)with love. I treat people how I want to be treated, with respect. I'm not perfect, I'm not always right and my opinions are my own. I respect yours please respect mine. If you live a hate filled life, you get hate back. If you love you get love back. It's amazing how the universe works in circles like that. None of this I learned from the bible.
I doubt they would want to work at that school again. There would be a toxic atmosphere there.
Load More Replies...These kids are awesome and so are their parents for supporting them. We have to stop mistreating others and them claiming it was their decision to be mistreated. Forcing these teachers to resign is a horrible message to send to the students and the community.
WTGDF??? People have completely misunderstood my comment here! My point is that the students have done a good thing by standing up for the teachers and the staff can't ignore that. How could you think I said something else???
Load More Replies...It's great to see that the younger generation are much more accepting than the evil older generation of hardline Catholics. Hopefully we'll overcome religion and reach an age of enlightenment and liberation as soon as possible.
Many students of Catholic schools are not Catholic...
Load More Replies...The Catholic Church is an absurdly right wing, anti-LGBT institution, and Pope Francis has no plans to change that.
I come from a big Catholic family. They are all left leaning and support lgbtq. The only right wing anti lgbtq family members are my aunt and her kids that turned protestant. They are very judgemental and have their noses up in the air to the rest of my family. Especially me since I'm not religious anymore. I treat them better than they treat me.
Load More Replies...The values this school is teaching are not Christian. They aren't even Catholic based on the behavior of the current Pope, who does not want to stand in judgement against gays just because they're gay. Also, given the amount of child predation found in Catholic institutions I don't think this school's "holier than though" attitude has much credibility.
Land of the free. Come on, you are not even free to do what you want in the bedroom.
Sth similar happened in my Catholic high school as well. A teacher was forced to marry her boyfriend, with whom she lived for a while, because she was threatened to lose her job. That's disgusting. After six years in that school I'm not Catholic anymore. I was sick of people trying to tell me what and how should I think.
What jerkbag douchenoggin downvoted you? Here’s a point up for you. 👍🏼😊
Load More Replies...Just another reason why religious institutions should be banned. Religion has destroyed more lives than it has saved.
Religious institutions should not be allowed to run schools at all.
Load More Replies...I would expect nothing less from my Washington Peeps. We staged a similar protest when a Vice Principal was forced to resign for having an affair with the Gym teacher. She was a wonderful VP and her private life should have had no bearing on how she did her job. Admin still would not rehire her. The parents did not support us the way these parents do. I'm proud of each and every one of them....
That is completely different. Cheating on your spouse is not a lifestyle. That's a choice. This is not a choice.
Load More Replies...Catholics having morals about sex? Did they run out of choir boys to abuse?
There’s nothing “moral” about this attitude. I mean, that’s the point.
Load More Replies...F***k the staff who wanted the two teachers gone. Good for the students and parents!!! I would like to add, however, that everyone who is blaming Christians and religion, could you stop?? I don't think that all Christians are bad, these people just set a horrible example. Not trying to start anything!
Finally someone who gets it! Don't lump everyone together just because they are all Catholic! That's like saying that all Germans hate the Jewish people just because of the Nazis!
Load More Replies...This is awesome. I will say that I am a Christian and have my own beliefs which I won't spout on here. But I do believe this that I will spout: No matter what you believe. Whether you believe it's a sin or ok it's NEVER ok to judge someone on what they do in their private lives. UNLESS it harms someone else. To fire someone because they are engaged to someone they love is just plain stupid. The same people that look down on them should also remember "Ye shall not judge, lest ye be judged." Shame on them. Good on the kiddos for standing up for them and the parents backing their kiddos.
Who would send their kids to a school run by a pedophile ring? And who in the Catholic church would have the balls to call consenting adults doing anything as immoral, given their people didn't immediately call the police for EVERY SINGLE REPORT OF ABUSE that was reported to them?! I have zero respect. They are not sacred. They are not to be respected. That religion has no business being considered as something respectable. Shame on any parent who brings their kids to a Catholic church or school.
Not all Catholic churches/schools are bad. I understand why you'd hate this one but I don't think it's right to shame everyone and automatically assume they're bad because they're a Catholic. Let the downvotes come, I was only stating my opinion after all.
Load More Replies...I have much hope for the future. Thankfully most youngsters are approving of the LGBT community. I hope bigotry of all kinds will be extinct in 100 years.
I don't know why this comes as a surprise. Private school, Catholic school, Catholic rules. Why are you sending your child there if you don't agree with how they teach and the values they uphold? If this school was run by any other religious group, Christian or not, it wouldn't have received an iota of the attention that it has.
Of course it would. Why would there be a difference? I can’t answer why parents send their children to religious schools, other than they think that’s “best” for their children (yuck).
Load More Replies...To all of the people with the argument that they signed a contract, so the religious school should be allowed to discriminate against them. It's still discrimination and it's still wrong. The USA had another problem with discrimination, it was called segregation. Businesses and schools are not allowed to segregate by race. It's evil, immoral discrimination. Institutions in the USA or anywhere should not be allowed to discriminate. Everyone deserves the equal opportunity to shop, work, or learn wherever they want.
As a teacher my personal life is my personal life, meaning I will not tell my students about my boyfriend, sexual orientation, political views or religious beliefs because it's inappropriate. Those two teachers that were fired- did the students even know they were gay and lesbian? In a lot of faiths gay and lesbianism is frowned upon, which means if I were gay or lesbian I would hesitate to work at a religious school. But on the other hand, my students would never know. And in the case of this school, the students might not have known if the school hadn't told them by dismissing them unjustly. The student protest to me shows that they were popular and good teachers. And yet they were dismissed due their sexual orientation. Here in South Africa, they could have taken the school to the constitutional court and would have won.
Clarification: Obviously ew against the administration
Load More Replies...Sadly, the church did not expelled child molesters. They finally admitted the Earth is round, only after 360 plus years after the Galileo discovery.
catholic students...no, i dont this so. like vegetarians going going to a stake house expecting veg
Their "supportive" parents are hypocrites - they sent their kids to a Catholic school, and are surprised that they discriminate against gay teachers?? They should have thought of that earlier.
I don’t get what it is with people we are fine with lgbtq+ people in the Bible it was misinterpreted since king someone redid the Bible and I forgot in the Bible where it’s saids we don’t like them it was misinterpreted because in the Bible we were talking about molesters not lgbtq+ people
Love is love and love is a human right. I’ve heard some pretty dumb excuses from people who think that LGBT is 100% wrong: “The Bible says such-and-such” Well guess what? Not everyone believes in your bible. It is just a book. A book, in fact, which’s beliefs are outdated and in which women lived to marry and were never the heroine. “That’s not the way animals do it” Actually, according to Bruce Bagemihl, there are over 450 animals in which homosexual behaviors are documented. This was in 1999, 21 years ago. If humans are good at only one thing, than it’s discovering new ideas. Don’t you think we would have progressed by then? I was told by my grandfather (rather firmly), as a child, that I WOULD marry someone of the opposite gender. Well, I hate that idea. I have been in love with my best friend who is the SAME GENDER AS ME since I was eight. I am not breaking my own heart to obey ideas which I don’t even believe.
How many priests are gay? This is the worst of organized religion. I can't find one word in my Bible that says anything about a pope or any sort of hierarchy that the Catholic church employs. It's a real shame.
One of the tenets of any church is to love & forgive. I think they forgot to practice what they preach.
I have to say that I am very thankful to not be Catholic because I haven't seen anything that the church teaches that would help me be a better person. There is too much intolerance towards human beings in their "rules"
Catholic institutes should take a good look at themselves. Have you heard of many priests (or other higher up example setters) who have lost their "job" beacause "...their lifestyle is incompatible with Catholic moral values or if his conduct is at variance with Catholic teaching."? And I'm certainly not implying adult interactions. Hush hush. Massive cover ups. They are such hypocrites!
As a former Lancer, I am absolutely appalled by this b******t. Don't you just love how we're taught to love our neighbors, be kind, have patience, etc. - until it's time to put those sentiments into action. I thoroughly applaud the students and parents who chose to stand up (or sit down, as the case may be) against this obvious and blatant discrimination.
The church will learn their lesson when parents stand up and say, "Fine. If you want to fire teachers, we'll fire you." Most Catholic schools are paid for by the families. My parents did this when I was in 6th grade, and there were issues with the school administration. My parents weren't the only ones. That school fired it's administration within a year. From what I understand, it was several years before they saw their enrollment return to what it was when I was there.
The same thing happened at the school my cousin taught at. Yes it was also a Catholic school. My cousin got married with in a month of a friend. His co worker married and then basically got fired. My cousin resigned. The school got sued. Its appalling that in this day and age this is still going on.
Religion should not have a place in schools..... I am happy to live in a country where state and religion are separated. But there are still private catholic schools ....
I'm proud of these kids for taking a stand. The Catholic church is notorious for this kind of discrimination. It gets worse when you realize that the Catholic church has taken over the majority of hospitals, and they disallow discussion of some women's health issues, are very anti-trans as well as other things. When do we recognize that this church does not have legitimate moral standards anymore?
I'm crying at my desk. Thank you, students and parents for your bravery and love!!!
never judge someone one their sex rather LGBTQ+ or not they have a right to teach and those kids really stood up for them go kennedy students
Try as it might and it has for centuries, religion cannot kill what is right and what is truth. AND especially LOVE.
so wait a minute - the school was okay with them being gay until they decided to get married? That's a bit confusing now...
Those teachers knew they were teaching in a Catholic school. They know the Church's teachings on same sex marriage. What did they expect? It's not as if they're not free to teach in other schools- their licenses have not been revoked and the school allowed them to resign rather than have the stain of dismissal on their records. Does anyone seriously believe they'll have any difficulty finding new jobs? And why did they decide to work at a Catholic school in the first place if they intended to openly flout its teachings? As for the students who walked out, there are plenty of other schools they can attend, aren't there? Sorry people but it's important that Catholic schools remain Catholic. Anyone who doesn't like that is completely free to go somewhere else.
What happened to the love and acceptance that the bible mentions? Oh, it doesn't fit your closed minded agenda so you'll just ignore it? Ok.
The faculty were following basic Catholic Social Teaching. Though I am concerned that they were even hired in the first place and that a sodomite is in attendance, even, presumably, entering the sanctuary! And the students' actions are rather delinquent and demonstrate a failure to understand the basic scriptural basis of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Douay-Rheims (Leviticus 18:22) on Sodomy:http://drbo.org/chapter/03022.htm (20:13) http://drbo.org/chapter/03020.htm
Old morality (Thou shalt not butt f**k.) vs. New morality (Everyone is infinitely precious.). Who is to say which is better or more important? Since the purpose of the school is for the students, and the students have clearly stated their moral preference, I am 100% happy with their actions. And if the school administration refuses to back down, the students should burn the school down and/or leave the school.
The problem was that they were in a relationship with someone close to their age. It would have been ok in a Catholic sense if their sexual partners were underage. They should have denied their sexual relationship too, just to make it more Catholic.
The reason more people are disrespecting or slowly become less religious because the church or any religion still doesn't understand the real meaning of what they preach to us. God loves all but hates people who are not straight? If only they would revise or listen to the people with an open heart and mind.
Thank you to whomever took that photo and blurred out the faces of any otherwise recognizable youths. That was very responsible and might well save someone a great deal of pain down the road.
I love this so much!!! I'm bi sexual, so if I could be there, I would. There is nothing wrong expressing yourself.
I'm an atheist, and I do believe that there are a lot of religious extremists, but there are atheist extremists too. People have the right to practice their religion whether you like it or not. Besides, you can't judge a whole religion on some bad eggs. Christianity has an estimated 2.1 billion followers, so you can't judge the whole religion.
Load More Replies...So it's 2020 and in America it's perfectly legal to sack someone because of their sexuality? Wow. Just wow.
It's a Catholic school. Child rape is ok, but don't try being a loving adult attracted to adults!
Load More Replies...It did some good: the teachers saw that their students are better than the school administration. The rest of us got to see the ethical stance of these students and it gives us hope for the future of our f****d-up country.
Load More Replies...I am in complete support of any and all of the LGBT community and I think teaching and sexuality are not correlated at all. However (and I say this while frowning) they knew what they signed up for when they were hired. Catholic and many religious based schools are notoriously anti-LGBT and despite how judgmental and hypocritical it is, it’s what they believe and they have a right to refuse those who don’t follow their beliefs. It sucks because again how one teaches and who they sleep with are NOT correlated! I also agree all divorcees, cheaters, liars, and thieves should be banned too. Don’t pick and choose which bible verses you’ll follow. Either follow all of them or none of them. Don’t be a hypocrite! Maybe they’ll change their ways. We can hope for that at least.
Oh, and you cannot claim to be "in complete support of any and all of the LGBT Community" if you think they should simply expect to be precluded from certain jobs or employers solely because of their sexuality.
Load More Replies...Since when people are not allowed to think that homosexuality is wrong? That is a freedom. As people can think it's wrong - they can unite in groups by their beliefs. Catholics is one of these groups. While Catholics are united by belief, that homosexuality is a sin (or just wrong), there's no reason to exclude from this group the ones, who think otherwise. And excluded ones have all rights to create their group (religion), based on both - Catholicism and lgbtq beliefs. Just simple like that.
If there's fisherman group, and one of them decides to go vegan and stop fishing - it's ok to exclude him/her from the group. If you want to keep him/her in the group, you should first change the group rules, not protest following rules.
Load More Replies...If all the families would go to public schools and stop funding pedophilia, maybe they would have the higher moral ground. The poison of Catholicism won't be staunched as long as you keep giving them money!!!
It’s the whole religious mindset: Cherrypicking. Mental gymnastics to keep believing in the parts they like while rejecting the parts they don’t.
Load More Replies...Oh My God, here they come. As soon as Christianity is shown to do something wrong, you all go "BUT WAIT LOOK AT ISLAM DON'T FORGET ABOUT THEM, WE'RE NOT THAT BAD COMPARED TO THESE GUYS" Shut the heck up. All religions have rights and wrongs and we all acknowledge that. You don't need to bring Islam into this discussion. It has absolutely nothing to do with this post at all.
Load More Replies...Listen, there are bits and pieces of what you are saying that's right, and some that's wrong. But like I said to someone just below your comment, the hell does Islam have to do with this conversation? As soon as a post comes along that could shed some negative or critical light on Christianity, someone ALWAYS has to bring Islam up so that they can be like "hey, I know we look bad rn, but that's nothing, cuz look at THESE guys!!" No. Islam has nothing to do with this specific post so just stop. As for what ou are saying, I do understand and everyone should be allowed to believe what they want. But I don't think people should be able to restrict jobs to you if you don't believe what they believe.
Load More Replies...Children (and teens under 18) are entirely disenfranchised. They have no choice nor agency over where their parents/guardians send them to school.
Load More Replies...Did you just equate being gay to being a drug user?! You have serious issues!
Load More Replies...What does that even mean in the context of this article?
Load More Replies...It's your right to respect restrictions on where you can work. I'm also concerned about discrimination in housing, services, etc. If those don't bother you either, great, but I'd be concerned about family and friends.
Load More Replies...You are horrific. Not because you believe in a magic sky daddy, but because you have the PRESUMPTUOUS, callous, and judgmental ARROGANCE to declare that these students will be tax cheats. You are the very kind of religious jackass that gives organized religion its very deserved ugly image.
Load More Replies...While I understand not wanting your child around hyper sexualization, having gay teachers isn't that. Having gay teachers in committed, monogamous relationships is the same as having straight teachers in committed, monogamous relationships. And being gay has nothing to do with gender identity.
Load More Replies...He will be told to remove it, because he is forcing a political opinion on impressionable teens.
Load More Replies...I am going to say to you what everyone else is probably thinking: you are probably one of the dumbest, bigoted, misogynistic, and ridiculous people who ever decided to comment on any platform. You are either a major troll or you don't know anything about anything. I already know that you are probably going to come back at me with something hateful and I really don't care. You are so unbelievably annoying and probably make most of the people on here very uncomfortable.
Load More Replies...They are so brave to do that! I like the guy who's sign said I'm gay. What's next - am I expelled? I'm also happy the parents joined in. Leggo lgbtq+++++
This is the same religion that considers homosexuality a terrible sin but didn't seem to find any fault in letting adult priests rape little children and teenagers.
Load More Replies...So what happened? Did they get their jobs back? I really hope so. I agree with the post that said what about divorced teachers and teachers with babies out of wedlock. Can't pick and choose. Every one should have the right to live life as they are fit as long as they aren't hurting anyone. I used to be catholic. The farther away from Christianity I get the happier and sane I get. And I feel like I'm living a more moral life than some people in church. I treat people equally and fairly, I try to look at all sides of situations before I make decisions, I treat all living things (animals, people)with love. I treat people how I want to be treated, with respect. I'm not perfect, I'm not always right and my opinions are my own. I respect yours please respect mine. If you live a hate filled life, you get hate back. If you love you get love back. It's amazing how the universe works in circles like that. None of this I learned from the bible.
I doubt they would want to work at that school again. There would be a toxic atmosphere there.
Load More Replies...These kids are awesome and so are their parents for supporting them. We have to stop mistreating others and them claiming it was their decision to be mistreated. Forcing these teachers to resign is a horrible message to send to the students and the community.
WTGDF??? People have completely misunderstood my comment here! My point is that the students have done a good thing by standing up for the teachers and the staff can't ignore that. How could you think I said something else???
Load More Replies...It's great to see that the younger generation are much more accepting than the evil older generation of hardline Catholics. Hopefully we'll overcome religion and reach an age of enlightenment and liberation as soon as possible.
Many students of Catholic schools are not Catholic...
Load More Replies...The Catholic Church is an absurdly right wing, anti-LGBT institution, and Pope Francis has no plans to change that.
I come from a big Catholic family. They are all left leaning and support lgbtq. The only right wing anti lgbtq family members are my aunt and her kids that turned protestant. They are very judgemental and have their noses up in the air to the rest of my family. Especially me since I'm not religious anymore. I treat them better than they treat me.
Load More Replies...The values this school is teaching are not Christian. They aren't even Catholic based on the behavior of the current Pope, who does not want to stand in judgement against gays just because they're gay. Also, given the amount of child predation found in Catholic institutions I don't think this school's "holier than though" attitude has much credibility.
Land of the free. Come on, you are not even free to do what you want in the bedroom.
Sth similar happened in my Catholic high school as well. A teacher was forced to marry her boyfriend, with whom she lived for a while, because she was threatened to lose her job. That's disgusting. After six years in that school I'm not Catholic anymore. I was sick of people trying to tell me what and how should I think.
What jerkbag douchenoggin downvoted you? Here’s a point up for you. 👍🏼😊
Load More Replies...Just another reason why religious institutions should be banned. Religion has destroyed more lives than it has saved.
Religious institutions should not be allowed to run schools at all.
Load More Replies...I would expect nothing less from my Washington Peeps. We staged a similar protest when a Vice Principal was forced to resign for having an affair with the Gym teacher. She was a wonderful VP and her private life should have had no bearing on how she did her job. Admin still would not rehire her. The parents did not support us the way these parents do. I'm proud of each and every one of them....
That is completely different. Cheating on your spouse is not a lifestyle. That's a choice. This is not a choice.
Load More Replies...Catholics having morals about sex? Did they run out of choir boys to abuse?
There’s nothing “moral” about this attitude. I mean, that’s the point.
Load More Replies...F***k the staff who wanted the two teachers gone. Good for the students and parents!!! I would like to add, however, that everyone who is blaming Christians and religion, could you stop?? I don't think that all Christians are bad, these people just set a horrible example. Not trying to start anything!
Finally someone who gets it! Don't lump everyone together just because they are all Catholic! That's like saying that all Germans hate the Jewish people just because of the Nazis!
Load More Replies...This is awesome. I will say that I am a Christian and have my own beliefs which I won't spout on here. But I do believe this that I will spout: No matter what you believe. Whether you believe it's a sin or ok it's NEVER ok to judge someone on what they do in their private lives. UNLESS it harms someone else. To fire someone because they are engaged to someone they love is just plain stupid. The same people that look down on them should also remember "Ye shall not judge, lest ye be judged." Shame on them. Good on the kiddos for standing up for them and the parents backing their kiddos.
Who would send their kids to a school run by a pedophile ring? And who in the Catholic church would have the balls to call consenting adults doing anything as immoral, given their people didn't immediately call the police for EVERY SINGLE REPORT OF ABUSE that was reported to them?! I have zero respect. They are not sacred. They are not to be respected. That religion has no business being considered as something respectable. Shame on any parent who brings their kids to a Catholic church or school.
Not all Catholic churches/schools are bad. I understand why you'd hate this one but I don't think it's right to shame everyone and automatically assume they're bad because they're a Catholic. Let the downvotes come, I was only stating my opinion after all.
Load More Replies...I have much hope for the future. Thankfully most youngsters are approving of the LGBT community. I hope bigotry of all kinds will be extinct in 100 years.
I don't know why this comes as a surprise. Private school, Catholic school, Catholic rules. Why are you sending your child there if you don't agree with how they teach and the values they uphold? If this school was run by any other religious group, Christian or not, it wouldn't have received an iota of the attention that it has.
Of course it would. Why would there be a difference? I can’t answer why parents send their children to religious schools, other than they think that’s “best” for their children (yuck).
Load More Replies...To all of the people with the argument that they signed a contract, so the religious school should be allowed to discriminate against them. It's still discrimination and it's still wrong. The USA had another problem with discrimination, it was called segregation. Businesses and schools are not allowed to segregate by race. It's evil, immoral discrimination. Institutions in the USA or anywhere should not be allowed to discriminate. Everyone deserves the equal opportunity to shop, work, or learn wherever they want.
As a teacher my personal life is my personal life, meaning I will not tell my students about my boyfriend, sexual orientation, political views or religious beliefs because it's inappropriate. Those two teachers that were fired- did the students even know they were gay and lesbian? In a lot of faiths gay and lesbianism is frowned upon, which means if I were gay or lesbian I would hesitate to work at a religious school. But on the other hand, my students would never know. And in the case of this school, the students might not have known if the school hadn't told them by dismissing them unjustly. The student protest to me shows that they were popular and good teachers. And yet they were dismissed due their sexual orientation. Here in South Africa, they could have taken the school to the constitutional court and would have won.
Clarification: Obviously ew against the administration
Load More Replies...Sadly, the church did not expelled child molesters. They finally admitted the Earth is round, only after 360 plus years after the Galileo discovery.
catholic students...no, i dont this so. like vegetarians going going to a stake house expecting veg
Their "supportive" parents are hypocrites - they sent their kids to a Catholic school, and are surprised that they discriminate against gay teachers?? They should have thought of that earlier.
I don’t get what it is with people we are fine with lgbtq+ people in the Bible it was misinterpreted since king someone redid the Bible and I forgot in the Bible where it’s saids we don’t like them it was misinterpreted because in the Bible we were talking about molesters not lgbtq+ people
Love is love and love is a human right. I’ve heard some pretty dumb excuses from people who think that LGBT is 100% wrong: “The Bible says such-and-such” Well guess what? Not everyone believes in your bible. It is just a book. A book, in fact, which’s beliefs are outdated and in which women lived to marry and were never the heroine. “That’s not the way animals do it” Actually, according to Bruce Bagemihl, there are over 450 animals in which homosexual behaviors are documented. This was in 1999, 21 years ago. If humans are good at only one thing, than it’s discovering new ideas. Don’t you think we would have progressed by then? I was told by my grandfather (rather firmly), as a child, that I WOULD marry someone of the opposite gender. Well, I hate that idea. I have been in love with my best friend who is the SAME GENDER AS ME since I was eight. I am not breaking my own heart to obey ideas which I don’t even believe.
How many priests are gay? This is the worst of organized religion. I can't find one word in my Bible that says anything about a pope or any sort of hierarchy that the Catholic church employs. It's a real shame.
One of the tenets of any church is to love & forgive. I think they forgot to practice what they preach.
I have to say that I am very thankful to not be Catholic because I haven't seen anything that the church teaches that would help me be a better person. There is too much intolerance towards human beings in their "rules"
Catholic institutes should take a good look at themselves. Have you heard of many priests (or other higher up example setters) who have lost their "job" beacause "...their lifestyle is incompatible with Catholic moral values or if his conduct is at variance with Catholic teaching."? And I'm certainly not implying adult interactions. Hush hush. Massive cover ups. They are such hypocrites!
As a former Lancer, I am absolutely appalled by this b******t. Don't you just love how we're taught to love our neighbors, be kind, have patience, etc. - until it's time to put those sentiments into action. I thoroughly applaud the students and parents who chose to stand up (or sit down, as the case may be) against this obvious and blatant discrimination.
The church will learn their lesson when parents stand up and say, "Fine. If you want to fire teachers, we'll fire you." Most Catholic schools are paid for by the families. My parents did this when I was in 6th grade, and there were issues with the school administration. My parents weren't the only ones. That school fired it's administration within a year. From what I understand, it was several years before they saw their enrollment return to what it was when I was there.
The same thing happened at the school my cousin taught at. Yes it was also a Catholic school. My cousin got married with in a month of a friend. His co worker married and then basically got fired. My cousin resigned. The school got sued. Its appalling that in this day and age this is still going on.
Religion should not have a place in schools..... I am happy to live in a country where state and religion are separated. But there are still private catholic schools ....
I'm proud of these kids for taking a stand. The Catholic church is notorious for this kind of discrimination. It gets worse when you realize that the Catholic church has taken over the majority of hospitals, and they disallow discussion of some women's health issues, are very anti-trans as well as other things. When do we recognize that this church does not have legitimate moral standards anymore?
I'm crying at my desk. Thank you, students and parents for your bravery and love!!!
never judge someone one their sex rather LGBTQ+ or not they have a right to teach and those kids really stood up for them go kennedy students
Try as it might and it has for centuries, religion cannot kill what is right and what is truth. AND especially LOVE.
so wait a minute - the school was okay with them being gay until they decided to get married? That's a bit confusing now...
Those teachers knew they were teaching in a Catholic school. They know the Church's teachings on same sex marriage. What did they expect? It's not as if they're not free to teach in other schools- their licenses have not been revoked and the school allowed them to resign rather than have the stain of dismissal on their records. Does anyone seriously believe they'll have any difficulty finding new jobs? And why did they decide to work at a Catholic school in the first place if they intended to openly flout its teachings? As for the students who walked out, there are plenty of other schools they can attend, aren't there? Sorry people but it's important that Catholic schools remain Catholic. Anyone who doesn't like that is completely free to go somewhere else.
What happened to the love and acceptance that the bible mentions? Oh, it doesn't fit your closed minded agenda so you'll just ignore it? Ok.
The faculty were following basic Catholic Social Teaching. Though I am concerned that they were even hired in the first place and that a sodomite is in attendance, even, presumably, entering the sanctuary! And the students' actions are rather delinquent and demonstrate a failure to understand the basic scriptural basis of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Douay-Rheims (Leviticus 18:22) on Sodomy:http://drbo.org/chapter/03022.htm (20:13) http://drbo.org/chapter/03020.htm
Old morality (Thou shalt not butt f**k.) vs. New morality (Everyone is infinitely precious.). Who is to say which is better or more important? Since the purpose of the school is for the students, and the students have clearly stated their moral preference, I am 100% happy with their actions. And if the school administration refuses to back down, the students should burn the school down and/or leave the school.
The problem was that they were in a relationship with someone close to their age. It would have been ok in a Catholic sense if their sexual partners were underage. They should have denied their sexual relationship too, just to make it more Catholic.
The reason more people are disrespecting or slowly become less religious because the church or any religion still doesn't understand the real meaning of what they preach to us. God loves all but hates people who are not straight? If only they would revise or listen to the people with an open heart and mind.
Thank you to whomever took that photo and blurred out the faces of any otherwise recognizable youths. That was very responsible and might well save someone a great deal of pain down the road.
I love this so much!!! I'm bi sexual, so if I could be there, I would. There is nothing wrong expressing yourself.
I'm an atheist, and I do believe that there are a lot of religious extremists, but there are atheist extremists too. People have the right to practice their religion whether you like it or not. Besides, you can't judge a whole religion on some bad eggs. Christianity has an estimated 2.1 billion followers, so you can't judge the whole religion.
Load More Replies...So it's 2020 and in America it's perfectly legal to sack someone because of their sexuality? Wow. Just wow.
It's a Catholic school. Child rape is ok, but don't try being a loving adult attracted to adults!
Load More Replies...It did some good: the teachers saw that their students are better than the school administration. The rest of us got to see the ethical stance of these students and it gives us hope for the future of our f****d-up country.
Load More Replies...I am in complete support of any and all of the LGBT community and I think teaching and sexuality are not correlated at all. However (and I say this while frowning) they knew what they signed up for when they were hired. Catholic and many religious based schools are notoriously anti-LGBT and despite how judgmental and hypocritical it is, it’s what they believe and they have a right to refuse those who don’t follow their beliefs. It sucks because again how one teaches and who they sleep with are NOT correlated! I also agree all divorcees, cheaters, liars, and thieves should be banned too. Don’t pick and choose which bible verses you’ll follow. Either follow all of them or none of them. Don’t be a hypocrite! Maybe they’ll change their ways. We can hope for that at least.
Oh, and you cannot claim to be "in complete support of any and all of the LGBT Community" if you think they should simply expect to be precluded from certain jobs or employers solely because of their sexuality.
Load More Replies...Since when people are not allowed to think that homosexuality is wrong? That is a freedom. As people can think it's wrong - they can unite in groups by their beliefs. Catholics is one of these groups. While Catholics are united by belief, that homosexuality is a sin (or just wrong), there's no reason to exclude from this group the ones, who think otherwise. And excluded ones have all rights to create their group (religion), based on both - Catholicism and lgbtq beliefs. Just simple like that.
If there's fisherman group, and one of them decides to go vegan and stop fishing - it's ok to exclude him/her from the group. If you want to keep him/her in the group, you should first change the group rules, not protest following rules.
Load More Replies...If all the families would go to public schools and stop funding pedophilia, maybe they would have the higher moral ground. The poison of Catholicism won't be staunched as long as you keep giving them money!!!
It’s the whole religious mindset: Cherrypicking. Mental gymnastics to keep believing in the parts they like while rejecting the parts they don’t.
Load More Replies...Oh My God, here they come. As soon as Christianity is shown to do something wrong, you all go "BUT WAIT LOOK AT ISLAM DON'T FORGET ABOUT THEM, WE'RE NOT THAT BAD COMPARED TO THESE GUYS" Shut the heck up. All religions have rights and wrongs and we all acknowledge that. You don't need to bring Islam into this discussion. It has absolutely nothing to do with this post at all.
Load More Replies...Listen, there are bits and pieces of what you are saying that's right, and some that's wrong. But like I said to someone just below your comment, the hell does Islam have to do with this conversation? As soon as a post comes along that could shed some negative or critical light on Christianity, someone ALWAYS has to bring Islam up so that they can be like "hey, I know we look bad rn, but that's nothing, cuz look at THESE guys!!" No. Islam has nothing to do with this specific post so just stop. As for what ou are saying, I do understand and everyone should be allowed to believe what they want. But I don't think people should be able to restrict jobs to you if you don't believe what they believe.
Load More Replies...Children (and teens under 18) are entirely disenfranchised. They have no choice nor agency over where their parents/guardians send them to school.
Load More Replies...Did you just equate being gay to being a drug user?! You have serious issues!
Load More Replies...What does that even mean in the context of this article?
Load More Replies...It's your right to respect restrictions on where you can work. I'm also concerned about discrimination in housing, services, etc. If those don't bother you either, great, but I'd be concerned about family and friends.
Load More Replies...You are horrific. Not because you believe in a magic sky daddy, but because you have the PRESUMPTUOUS, callous, and judgmental ARROGANCE to declare that these students will be tax cheats. You are the very kind of religious jackass that gives organized religion its very deserved ugly image.
Load More Replies...While I understand not wanting your child around hyper sexualization, having gay teachers isn't that. Having gay teachers in committed, monogamous relationships is the same as having straight teachers in committed, monogamous relationships. And being gay has nothing to do with gender identity.
Load More Replies...He will be told to remove it, because he is forcing a political opinion on impressionable teens.
Load More Replies...I am going to say to you what everyone else is probably thinking: you are probably one of the dumbest, bigoted, misogynistic, and ridiculous people who ever decided to comment on any platform. You are either a major troll or you don't know anything about anything. I already know that you are probably going to come back at me with something hateful and I really don't care. You are so unbelievably annoying and probably make most of the people on here very uncomfortable.
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