Catholic school teacher fired after parents learn of her same-sex marriage
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Version 0 of 1. A religious education teacher was fired from a Catholic elementary school outside Philadelphia after she refused to resign when parents complained about her same-sex marriage, according to a report by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Margie Winters, a well-respected teacher at Waldron Mercy Academy in Merion, Pennsylvania, was fired by letter on 22 June, just days before a historic US supreme court ruling legalized same-sex marriage across the country. “In the Mercy spirit, many of us accept life choices that contradict current Church teachings,” Principal Nell Stetser wrote in an email to parents on Friday. “But to continue as a Catholic school, Waldron Mercy must comply with those teachings.” Winters was reportedly fired after parents discovered she was married to a woman. One parent complained to the school and another to the archdiocese of Philadelphia. The archdiocese has said it had nothing to do with Winters’ dismissal. Winters married in Boston in 2007, seven years before a federal judge struck down Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage. On 26 June, the US supreme court declared same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states. Winters told the Inquirer she and her wife “kept a really low profile” after having been advised to avoid discussing their marriage with students’ parents. She was told, however, that she could discuss her relationship with faculty. “I actually had a conversation with the principal a few weeks after I was hired, to say, ‘How should I handle this,’” Winters said. “So that’s what I’ve done,” she said. “I’ve never been open. And that’s been hard.” Lower Merion township, where the school is located, has an anti-discrimination ordinance that protects employees from being fired for, among other reasons, sexual orientation. The ordinance carves out exemptions for religious institutions – unless those institutions are supported “in whole or in part by governmental appropriations”. The Inquirer noted that over the past two years, Waldron Mercy Academy has received $270,000 from a statewide tax credit program. Daylin Leach, a Democratic state senator who represents the area, suggested to the paper that the acceptance of state money could disqualify the school from the religious exemption. Principal Stetser said in the email to parents she hoped the situation would launch a conversation. “My hope is the pain we experience today adds to the urgency of engaging in an open and honest discussion about this and other divisive issues at the intersection of our society and our Church,” she wrote. It appears that such a conversation is already ongoing among parents, many of whom were shocked to learn that Winters had been fired. “It was a surprise, coming from Waldron,” said Nancy Houston, a parent who planned to host a meeting to discuss Winters’ firing. “That’s not who we are. Right now, there’s a lot of questions.” |