Lesbian Teacher At Catholic School That Fired Vice Principal For Gay Marriage Gets Engaged

Eastside Catholic High School in Sammamish, Washington has been in the news — a lot — after firing beloved Vice Principal Mark Zmuda last month for getting married to a man. Students walked out of the school en masse and have been protesting, writing letters, organizing, and holding meetings.

It’s gotten so bad since Zmuda was dismissed that the school board chairman just resigned, claiming he needed a break. School president Sister Mary Tracy claims Gene Colin’s resignation has nothing to do with Zmuda’s firing, or the atmosphere since.

Yeah, right.

Sister Mary Tracy is about to face yet another challenge. Eastside Catholic High School’s drama coach, Stephanie Merrow, just got engaged, to a woman. Today, she will wear her engagement ring to school.

“Either I’ll be fired or the students will say, ‘right on,’” Merrow told local radio station KIRO-FM, according to KING 5 News.

“It doesn’t matter if I get fired, I want (students) to know that I think what they did was incredible and if anything changes, it’s going to be because of this next generation,” Merrow added.

She also spoke about the firing of Vice Principal Zmuda.

“They’re not firing people who are straight that are doing things that aren’t Catholic,” she said, “They’re just firing Mark.”

Students have been warned they will be sent home from school should they continue the protests.

They have a big one planned for the end of this month.

Depending on how Eastside Catholic handle’s Merrow’s engagement, they may have to have another one, sooner.

Catholic schools have the legal right to fire teachers for violating Catholic teachings. The majority of Catholics support same-sex marriage. Gay teachers in Catholic schools will continue to marry, just as heterosexual teachers at Catholic schools will continue to use birth control, get abortions, and violate other Catholic teachings.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer notes Eastside Catholic “says in the careers section of its website: ‘Eastside Catholic does not discriminate on a basis of an employee or applicant’s race, religion, creed, color, sex, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or any other status or condition protected by federal, state and local law.’”

Still, teachers at the school pledge that they will “live a lifestyle compatible with Catholic moral values, exercise professional conduct consistent with Catholic teachings, and promote the Catholic identity of the school through personal example.”

Where does this end, and why the selective firings?