Tag Archives: Teacher

Under Gay Propaganda Law, Russian Court Says Lesbian Is Unfit To Teach

A St. Petersburg school teacher was fired in December 2014 for her lesbian social media activity.

The teacher, only identified by her first name, Alevtina, was sacked because her employer said her behaviour was incompatible with her job.

She last week lost a court appeal to be reinstated, but plans to continue to fight the ruling.

russian-teacher-03

A court called upon “experts” to analyze the teacher’s photos on VKontakte, Russia’s version of Facebook, and declared them “extremely unacceptable from a moral point of view.”

Alevtina appealed to the court in January to get her job back plus a compensation of 300,000 rubles, or around $5,600, for emotional distress. Her appeal was rejected last week on the grounds that she had committed “acts of indecency.”

She lost her job in December because of the crusading of Timur Isayev, who has made a career of outing school teachers who post expressions of homosexuality online. He claims their outward homosexuality violates Russia’s law against “gay propaganda.” Isayev said in December he had gotten 29 teachers fired for being gay.

On forwarding the photo to the school, Isaev wrote: “You have an unhealthy, psychologically abnormal lesbian teacher working for you.

This teacher openly reveals on social media that she is an immoral lesbian and that she lives or co-habitates with another unhealthy woman just like herself.We strongly urge you to dismiss her for incompetence in the profession.”

Gay people have faced increasing issues in Russia since President Vladimir Putin in 2013 signed a federal law banning the “promotion of non-tradtional sexual relations”.

The teacher told Meduza she “proudly wiped her tears” after hearing the court rejected her appeal. She might file suit with the European Court of Human Rights, the thorn in Russia’s legal side, she said. But even if she were to prevail in the European court, while she might get some compensation, there is not much precedence to show she would get her job back.

It’s not illegal to be gay in Russia, but the law against gay propaganda that president Vladimir Putin passed in 2013 essentially lets the government crack down on anyone it believes is being too public or flamboyant about their sexual preferences.

Lesbian Teacher Finds Support After Being Fired For Being Pregnant

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.

Outcry as Italy Teacher Says She was Sacked for Being a Lesbian

Their has been an outcry in Italy after teacher says she was sacked for being a lesbian. The report has sparked the Italy’s Education Minister – Stefania Giannini to promise an inquiry into the claim, that a female teacher was forced out of her job because she is gay.

“If it’s confirmed that we’re dealing with a case related to discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, we will act with appropriate severity”

Stefania Giannini

Her removal from the state-funded Institute of the Sacred Heart in the northern town of Trento has angered equality campaigners and focused attention once again on the country’s record on gay rights.

Mother Libratore issued a statement denying that the teacher had been sacked. But her account seemed to reinforce the suggestion that she lost her job on account of her sexual orientation.

“Rumours reached me that she was lesbian and I spoke with her about it in order to understand if she had personal problems. If you’re a lesbian, you say so. If she’s hiding it, I want to understand if there are problems, how she intends to conduct herself, because I’m responsible for 1,000 students and 137 staff; I have educational responsibilities. She didn’t even reply and she left.”

Mother Libratore.

The teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper:

“I taught at the school for five years, with no problems; in fact, the director and the parents were enthusiastic about my work. Last Wednesday I saw the headteacher, assuming it was about a new contract, but instead she began with strange questions… whether it was true that I had a girlfriend and if I was a lesbian. Of course, I refused to answer – I felt offended by her questioning something that was so private.”

Many Italian ministers have spoken up in support of the unfair dismissal including Enrico Lillo, the regional president of Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia party, also attacked the teacher’s treatment.

“To have to learn that in 2014 a teacher has been fired for reasons linked to her sexual orientation is completely unacceptable,”

Enrico Lillo

This surprising new adherence by some Italian conservatives to the cause of lesbian and gay equality may have been prompted by Mr Berlusconi’s own volte-face on the issue.

For years Mr Berlusconi’s party has blocked attempts to introduce civil partnerships for same-sex couples. However, in June this year the disgraced three-times premier surprised campaigners by announcing that he was now joining the battle for lesbian and gay rights.