Mark Zmuda is a former Catholic school vice principal. He was fired from his job. No, not for inappropriate dealings with an underage student. He was fired because he admitted marrying his gay lover. Note, he was not fired for being gay. He was not fired for marrying a gay lover. He was fired because he publicly admitted to marrying his gay lover. The agreement he signed when he came aboard forbade him from publicizing anything that contradicts Catholic teachings. Note, the agreement did NOT say you can't do otherwise sinful things like have children out of wedlock or have gay lovers or even have sex with someone out of wedlock, though the Catholic teachings are clear about those being prohibited. The agreement simply said, don't do those things publicly.
Now, that might sound like a contradiction in terms, but there's a logic here. It's the same logic the US Military took with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". They knew, as religious zealots and schools know, that people are going to do what people are going to do, and you can't apply a law against the way people feel. But you can regulate people's behavior when you're on their dime. A company can (though none would) say that you cannot discuss marriage while at work. A company can also say that you are prohibited from discussing sensitive political topics. Why can they do this? For that, you can thank the state governments and their love affair with "At Will Termination" - meaning, as long as you aren't discriminating against a person directly, you can fire a person for pretty much anything, without reason, and a person can quit for any reason. This isn't in your favor, since if you quit without giving notice, you won't get a good review, but I digress.
Let's talk about discrimination.
Equal Employment Opportunity, which every company in the United States must adhere to strictly (it's also one of two reasons for an HR department), is comprised of a number of laws that started in the 60s which collectively are designed to ensure that employment decisions are not made based on factors that are basically beyond a person's individual control, to summarize. The laws are very specific. Feel free to read for yourself: About the EEOC - but in summary..."An employer may not take into account a person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information when making decisions about discipline or discharge." Notice that sexual orientation is not included in there. That's because it's not currently protected under the laws, despite said laws being around for half a century. It's this that I want to talk about.
In Mr. Zmuda's case, the students are protesting his release for the reason he was released. The students were informed by the school that additional protesting would result in their dismissal.. Another teacher "came out" on KIRO Radio 97.3 to show support, and the radio station is making a big fuss about the whole situation. They asked for caller opinions, and ironically enough, all three callers who got on the air were in support for the student protests and the reinstatement of Zmuda. The general consensus is, since gay marriage is legal in Washington State, the Catholic school should change its ways. Clearly, this is an indicator of the climate out here and the reason businesses like Chik-Fil-A can't operate here: Some of the people favor their personal feelings over respecting business policy.
I want to comment on something said by one of the talk show hosts, "Don" I believe. A caller called in a day later to say that she felt that if the students were not happy with the decision or the policy, or if some teachers wanted to do something in violation of the agreement, they should find another school more toleratnt. To my shock and surprise, "Don" ridiculed the lady's comment after abruptly hanging up on her. For that reason (amongst many others), I plan to boycott the station and stop listening, but "Don" had drawn a wild-eyed, biased and hippie analogy to the civil rights movement and segregation of Blacks in the 40's - 60's. It smacked of trying to help the station's ratings or something and had no place in a radio broadcast.
For the record I'm African American. I'm not old enough to have experiened segregation, but my grandparents definitely did, and I'm sure my parents experiened the tail end of it. I feel insulted at any attempt to compare that era to what's going on with this school.
First, segregation was not by choice, it was by design. A person couldn't choose not to be black; a person CAN choose not to publicize their wedding. A person couldn't choose to be born white; a person CAN choose to have a gay lover. Rosa Parks fought for the choice to sit anywhere on the bus; she didn't fight to sit in the front or not to sit in the back, she wanted the freedom to choose her seat, and she won that fight. Homosexuals have every right to marry a gay lover, they can even publicize it - so long as they are ready to accept the consequence of that choice which is to be fired. It's not like a black boy drinking at a whites-only fountain, only to end up hung from some tree in Louisana. Two totally different worlds we're talking about here...but it takes an African American to realize why there's a difference.
Second point: the students were told that if they continued protesting they would be dismissed. That's a choice. But the next day they told stories about going back to school dejected and upset, planning future protests and wanting radio help. In the segregation days, you had black children walking to school despite being jeered and attacked by white kids. Why? Because they wanted to prove a point: it meant enough to them to take the abuse and accept the consequence of their decision. Ray Charles infamously boycotted a venue in Georgia because black fans were being mistreated; he ended up being banned from Georgia for a while, but even despite the ban he said he wouldn't step foot into another venue there until there was change - indeed he was instrumental in a lot of the changes that happened down there for that very incident. In the segregation times they fought to influence change, not to be famous or radio stars. Again, totally different worlds.
Finally, in agreeing with the other gal, the best way to send a message is to leave the situation. If the school's policy contradicts with your beliefs, boycott it. Leave. Go to a school that does let you share your beliefs the way you want. There are tons of non-Catholic schools that wouldn't bat an eye at someone coming out and proclaiming their gay marriage; go there and make a difference with kids. I'm not a religious person; I believe in the spirit of Man (amongst other things I will not mention here), but I respect that religion is its own judge, and they should not have to change if they don't choose to. If you're not Catholic, don't work at a Catholic school, and if you don't agree with the way a certain situation is handled, walk away and send a message to the school. If enough people leave, one of two things will happen: they'll shut down or they'll change. Either way, it's a win.
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