Catholic School Teacher Outed In Mother’s Obituary and Fired, Students Rally Support
Carla Hale was fired from her job as a physical education teacher at Bishop Watterson High School, a private Catholic school in Columbus, Ohio for being gay. She was not out to her students, but when her mother died, her partner, Julie, was listed as her spouse in the obituary.
That was enough to have her lose her 19-year employment with Bishop Watterson.
Students have rallied around Carla. Jackson Garrity, a senior at Bishop Watterson organized a Change.org petition, asking to have Carla reinstated as a teacher at the school. The petition has already gathered over 8,000 in just two days.
Carla Hale’s story is the latest in a long history of the hierarchy persecuting LGBT and supportive members of the Roman Catholic Church. GLAAD has been working with Nicholas Coppola, the Long Island, New York, man who was stripped of all involvement with his local Catholic parish after marrying his partner.
Nicholas’ Change.org petition asks Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Chair of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to break bread with him.
and hear about the lives and realities of LGBT Catholics.
Stories like that of Carla Hale, who dedicated herself to her school for 19 years.
GLAAD is reaching out to Ms. Hale, as well as supporting the student petition organizers. You cantake action, supporting both Carla Hale and Nicholas Coppola. Both are faithful people, dedicated to their work within the Roman Catholic Church. Both were persecuted for who they love.
Originally posted at GLAAD; Photo via Flickr user UwePhilly