Students decided to walk out in protest after two teachers Paul Danforth and Michelle Beattie resigned because they were gay.
What You Know:
- The teachers were said to have resigned voluntarily but Danforth’s fiancee Sean Nyberg that Danforth was forced out after he proposed to him at Disneyland on November 1. Beattie had too recently got engaged to her fiancee.
- The school sent letters to parents saying that the teachers are highly capable to teach their children but didn’t comment on the reason behind their departure.
- The remaining staff member who work at the school had to sign a contract saying that the school can “revoke any teacher’s lifestyle is incompatible with Catholic moral values.”
- Erika Dubois a mother of a Kennedy Catholic student who was a part of planning the walkout told to the Seattle Times that she was surprised by the resignation. She said that she about the morality clause but she assumed the school would not act on it. Dubois said, ‘Would it have been applied if a teacher were divorced and remarried? Or had children out of wedlock? ‘I’m sad about the message this sends to LGBTQ students: “We love and accept you but we can’t employ you”.’
At the protest, students held up several signs saying ‘Love is a human right,’ ‘Who would Jesus fire?,’ ‘I’m Gay! What’s Next?.’ Nyberg spoke to West Seattle Blog during the protests and said that “the students’ actions were more brave than anything I’ve seen any adults do.”