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Lesbian Teacher Finds Support After Being Fired For Being Pregnant

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Finding acceptance in our hearts, many of us understand that discrimination is wrong. Regardless of your gender identity, sexuality or race we should all be treated with respect because as human beings looking out for one another it’s what we all deserve. Plenty of us also understand that these things should not stop us from getting jobs, finding homes or gaining access to healthcare but unfortunately, the law doesn’t always agree. This is the case in several states in the United States of America where employers are legally permitted to fire someone for being LGBT and it’s because of this, one teacher says, that she was fired.

Barb Webb is the teacher in question and despite working at the all-girls Marian High School for nine years, she says that after she became pregnant she was fired with no explanation. Not only did the school’s board fail to give her a reason for her termination, they also suggested that she resign (with health benefits) and held several meetings with her reminding her of Marian High’s morality clause which states that employees “will not publicly engage in actions, or endorse actions or beliefs contrary to the teachings and standards of the Roman Catholic faith and morality.”

However, even with this morality clause in place, Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prevents employers from firing on the grounds of “familial status” which would in theory protect Barb Webb for being fired over her “non-traditional” pregnancy. The problem is that as the law has no specific language pertaining to LGBT employees (Webb has been with her partner Kristin Lasecki for five years) Marian may be able to evade the law.

They can’t evade the watchful eyes of their alumni though as 3,000 former students of Marian High School have joined a Facebook page demanding justice for Webb’s dismissal and 700 alumni have signed a petition in support of the fired teacher. Several have also been part of a protest, involving signs that explain that not only are alumni in support of LGBTQ rights but that the school’s firing of Webb contradicts the teachings of tolerance and respect that they learnt  whilst they were students.

Marian High School’s board have not yet explained why they fired Webb or responded to the protests but we’ll keep you posted once they do.

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If only the world was as “open-minded” as us… Alas, matters of sexual identity and equal love, often cause so much friction in the rest of the world. Here, find an open dialogue on the issues facing our LGBT community.

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