Officials at a Catholic school in Colorado dismissed a teacher after learning that she was seeing a woman and seeing a photo of the instructor kissing the woman.
Before being fired on January 25, Maggie Barton spent six years coaching basketball and teaching technology and media at the All Souls Catholic School in the Englewood neighborhood of Denver.
After the Archdiocese of Denver conducted an inquiry, the decision to terminate her was made. From kindergarten through the eighth grade, kids are taught in the schools.
All instructors are forced to sign a contract assuring that they would conduct their life in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church, the diocese said in a statement defending its activities. Bishop Samuel J. Aquila is the bishop-in-charge of the diocese.
After being fired, Kathy Weisbrod, a parent of a kid at All Souls, created a GoFundMe campaign to provide financial support. The page has raised almost $25,000 as of this writing.
Speaking to Colorado Public Radio, Barton described the outpouring of love she has gotten from the All Souls community as “amazing” and “overwhelming.”
In the interview, the teacher acknowledged that she often joined the school choir in playing the guitar during mass. She said: “Because of all this, it’s hard for me right now to find out how to negotiate what my religion looks like.”
Pope Francis recently made news when he ruled that although homosexuality still qualifies as a sin under Catholic doctrine, it should not be treated as a “crime.”
Even though she had been living openly as an LGBTQ+ person, Barton told the Publish that she had been careful not to post pictures of herself with her boyfriend on social media.
Barton said that she came out to her family in the first semester of her freshman year at St. Edward’s University in Austin.
In 2017, Barton agreed to take a job as a teacher at All Souls. In an interview with Fox31, Barton expressed her passion of teaching by saying, “I just totally fell in love with it.” “This is what I should be doing,” I thought.
It’s prejudice, she said. There isn’t any other way to put it. to have my employment terminated due to my sexual orientation. Discrimination that is.
In an interview with the Denver Post, Barton revealed that she was raised in Texas and attended Catholic schools there. Her Facebook profile indicates that she went to Bishop Lynch High School.
According to Barton, who spoke with CBS Denver, “I wanted to teach at a catholic school because I wanted to share the ideals that I learned and the experience that I had with future children.” She said that she was reared in the catholic religion.
Barton said in that interview how content she was with her position at All Saints and added that she thought she would never leave the institution.
I find it difficult to see how being in a same-sex relationship or someone’s sexual orientation prevents you from doing that, the speaker said.
Barton said that she got a call from someone at the archdiocese the day before she learned she was being dismissed, asking her about her knowledge of the Catholic church’s stance on homosexuality.
According to the statement from the archdiocese, “Many families do bring their kids to our schools expecting their kids to have a Catholic-believing education.”
“This formal disclosure of the demands, and instructors signing and agreeing to those requirements at the beginning of each school year, are designed to maintain the Catholic character of our schools,” it said.
“It is a commitment to our parents that their kids will get a real, comprehensive Catholic education. A school representing itself as a Catholic institution but not providing a Catholic education would be unfair.
One Colorado, a Colorado-based LGBTQ advocacy organization, issued a statement stating that they support Barton.
‘We are sorry to see the Denver Archdiocese continuing to maintain this detrimental posture against LGBTQ+ Coloradans,’ said spokeswoman Nadine Bridges.
A space for love and support should be found in faith groups, including schools. LGBTQ+ Coloradans of Catholic religion are alienated and discriminated against when LGBTQ+ children are denied admittance, LGBTQ+ parents are denied full participation, and in this instance, LGBTQ+ instructors are fired for no other reason than that they are in love,’ the press release said.
Pope Francis has said that laws that criminalize LGBT persons are a sin and an injustice since God loves and supports those who experience same-sex desire.
Francis enjoyed the full support of two other Christian leaders on the aircraft with him when he made his comments in answer to a reporter’s inquiry while on the way home from an African tour.
Francis said, “The criminalization of homosexuality is a matter that cannot be overlooked.” Francis then referenced figures that indicated that 50 nations “in one way or another” persecute LGBT individuals, and that roughly 10 additional countries had laws that include the death sentence for them.
“This is wrong.” Homosexual inclinations are present in God’s offspring. God cherishes them. God goes with them; it is wrong to condemn someone in this way. It is unfair to criminalize anyone who have gay impulses, stated Francis.
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