More Catholic Hypocrisy At Eastside High School

I first wrote about Mark Zmuda a few weeks back [see post HERE] but here’s a quick refresher:

Zmuda was the vice principal at Eastside Catholic High School in Sammamish, Washington until the day he married his same-sex partner. Then he was fired for violating both the teachings of the Catholic Church, and a contract he signed when hired by the school.

Now, students at the school instantly began protesting and demanding that Zmuda be rehired, but that has yet to happen, though a new wrinkle into what goes on at this school, and inside the Catholic Church, has come up.

Stephanie Merrow, a former part-time musical coach at Eastside Catholic High School — and we’ll get to why she’s a ‘former’ coach in a moment — was feeling a little nervous recently because she had just become engaged to her same-sex partner and after Mark Zmuda’s firing for marrying his partner, she was sure she’d be next in the unemployment line.

Merrow said she was nervous before meeting with the school’s principal, Polly Skinner, and other administrators, to discuss her engagement, and future at the school, but now says that meeting was “very warm and welcoming” and that, unlike Zmuda, the school has given her a new employment agreement as an independent contractor.

“She was very nice, she made me feel very valued. I got a little raise.”—Stephanie Merrow

She got a new contract, and a little raise, for doing the exact same thing that seemingly resulted in Mark Zmuda’s firing? How does that happen?

Well, it’s all in the verbiage used. Merrow is no longer a “part-time” music teacher and coach at the school; she is now an “independent contractor” and, as such, is apparently not held to the same strict rules of Church teachings. Her engagement, to a woman of all things, no longer matters, even though she is doing the exact same work she’s always done at the school.

Huh.

It’s believed that Merrow’s status would not have changed, thus allowing her to keep her job, if she hadn’t announced her engagement, and it’s unclear  if Mark Zmuda would have been offered a newly worded contract and been reinstated as an “independent contractor” teacher.

So, is this continued hypocrisy in the Church, where gay men are treated differently than gay women? Or is this a new trend in the Church to find ways to bend the rules to fit the changing times? Is it due to the fact that Zmuda was an administrator and Merrow simply a teacher/coach?

I’m kind of leaning toward hypocrisy because, well, that’s what the Catholic Church does, and because Mark Zmuda was never offered a change in status as an option to keep his job. He was terminated — even though the school first said he resigned — the very moment he announced his marriage. Stephanie Merrow was allowed to keep her job, albeit it with a new title.

The fight for Zmuda’s reinstatement goes on, however, as students have tweeted the Pope — who infamously suggested that the Catholic Church stop marginalizing LGBT folks — in the hopes that he might offer his opinion. And students at Eastside are calling January 31st as “Z Day” and “encourage students, at Catholic schools or otherwise, as well as any other impassioned individuals, to proudly wear the color orange on that day. In so doing, we will be showing solidarity with Mark Zmuda, as well as expressing our hopes for an enlightened perspective on issues of sexuality in the Catholic Church.”

Here’s hoping …..

Catholic school that forced out gay administrator keeps lesbian music coach

Eastside Catholic Gay Teacher asked to sign Contractor agreement

Students Protest Firing Of Gay Teacher

Mark Zmuda was the vice principal at Eastside Catholic High School in Sammamish, Washington, just outside of Seattle. I say ‘was’ because Zmuda was terminated for marrying his same-sex partner and in doing so he is said to have violated both Catholic teachings and a contract he signed when hired by the school.

This is not news, really; this has been happening at Catholic schools everywhere, where gay employees have been fired for getting married or just getting engaged. But what’s different about this time is the reaction of the student body at Eastside.

They walked out of class; and began using social media — Twitter and Facebook — to air their displeasure at Zmuda’s firing to other Catholic schools in the area, whose students also walked out of class in solidarity.

But before we get to that, let’s get to some discrepancies in the story.

Mike Patterson, an attorney for Eastside Catholic, said the process that led to Zmuda’s “departure” began about two weeks ago when the school became aware that he had legally married his partner over the summer. But was it a departure? Well, Mike Patterson says Zmuda resigned, but a letter sent from the school to parents says Zmuda was terminated because he violated his contract.

“He resigned,” Patterson now says, “I just spoke with him within the last two hours. He agrees he resigned.”

But, if he resigned, why did Eastside Catholic president Sister Mary Tracy, who discussed the issue with Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, say she met with Patterson and Zmuda in a cordial meeting where it was decided he would leave the school.  And then why Tracy report to other school staff of Zmuda’s termination? That doesn’t sound like resignation, unless they mean a forced resignation.

“It was just one of those situations where he knew ... that he needed to comport with the [teachings] of the church, and his same-sex marriage was not comporting with that.”—Mike Patterson

Patterson added that it was Zmuda’s same-sex marriage, not the fact that he is gay, was the reason he cannot work for the school, but um, yeah, if he wasn’t gay then his marriage wouldn’t be same-sex, now would it. I love this bassackward logic of the Catholic Church. It’s not because he’s gay, it’s because he acted in a gay manner doing something he is legally entitled to do in the state of Washington.

But enough of that; fired or resigned, Mark Zmuda is out of a job because he got married, and when Sister Tracy broke the news at a faculty meeting it spread quickly though the student body. And that’s the good news, for equality, and perhaps the bad news for the Catholic Church.

Christian Leider, a Senior, said he found out on Twitter: “The students were pretty upset about that so we all came together and rebelled against it. Once one person found out it went on Twitter and then everyone found out.”

He and others started rounding up students for a sit-in at the school common area and then they marched up a hill to the main campus to show their support for Zmuda to the media gathered there.

“We did not know he was gay before today. He’s always looking out for the best in everyone and he always wants everyone to do their best.”—Christian Leider

Sophia Cerino, a freshman at Eastside Catholic, said most students support marriage equality:

“Just because I’m Catholic doesn’t mean I need to believe every rule the church has. We think the rule over gay marriage is totally unfair. Everyone seems to think the same thing — that we should all be treated equal.”

Mark Zmuda

When the students were gathered on the street, Zmuda spoke about what happened:

“He told us he had gotten fired because he is gay and married. He told us to grow up, get a job and find true love. He was crying and told us what we were doing meant a lot to him.”

Grow up, get a job and find true love.

I think someone should teach the ‘Grow up and find true love’ lesson to the Catholic Church.

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