Lynn Starkey, a guidance counselor at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis that was there for nearly 40 years, is suing the school after she was fired when they discovered she was married to a woman. "Catholic schools exist to communicate the Catholic faith to the next generation. To accomplish their mission, Catholic schools ask all teachers, administrators and guidance counselors to uphold the Catholic faith by word and action, both inside and outside the classroom," stated the district. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects employees from being discriminated based on their race, color, religion, sex and national origin, with a few exceptions when it comes to religion. Religious schools can discriminate if the curriculum is directed toward teaching a certain religion, and religious employers can employ only people whose beliefs and actions match their religion. However, they can't discriminate on the basis of other protections, like sex. Courts of appeals (circuit courts) are split on whether or not sex includes sexual orientation and gender identity. While Indianapolis is covered by the 7th circuit court, which ruled in favor of including sexual orientation and gender identity, Indiana does have religious exemptions to protections against discrimination.
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Should there be religious exemptions in the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Why or why not?
- I'm kind of split on whether or not there should be religious exceptions. Since some religions are anti-LGBT, it would make sense for those religious schools to be given freedom on who they hire, but it's still unfair to employees that have been working at a religious facility for years that get fired.
Do you think sexual orientation and gender identity fit under sex? Should sexual orientation and gender identity protections be added to Title VII?
- I don't think that sexual orientation and gender identity fit under sex, however, I do think that sexual orientation and gender identity protection should be added to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Employers can't (and shouldn't) discriminate against people of color, so why should they be able to discriminate against gay people or trans people?
Replies
Good story choice and well done! You replied to all that you could except for some late replies last night which I won't take off for. I am surprised their weren't more for this story as I though it was one of the better topics this week.
Well I don't like how the school is saying that if you are a homosexual, you can't be a Catholic basicly.
I dont think that there is a problem with having a Gudiance counselor with different gender identity, I agree with you that there are some religions that are anti-LGBT such as Catholic, but as long as the person is being professional at work, gender identity should not matter.
I don't think there should be religious exceptions. Those decisions can be made at the hiring stage rather than firing somone becuase the school's religion doesn't align with LGBT. It is illegal for employers to descriminate due to race and therefore it should be illegal to descriminate against LGBT.
In my opinion sexual orientation and gender identity are different than sex, however I believe they should be protected under Title VII.
I hate to say it, but I think it makes sense to have religious exceptions. For a religious school that is teaching a religion, the employees should follow that religion, and if they don't, the employer should be able to fire them. However, I'm not sure about Lynn Starkey being fired. She worked there for 40 years and there was no problem and her sexuality obviously wasn't made known by her, so why does it change just because they found out that she's married to a woman. So I guess it would make sense to have no exceptions and just not fire them.
I believe it's necessary for places to be able to choose who they hire based on sexual preferences. It states in the Bible that man was created for woman and woman for man. At places such as Catholic schools it's a core belief. If I were to tell you that you needed to respect teachers but turned around and bad-mouthed them all the time, that lesson about respect would have no effect on you. We must practice what we preech. We must be able to hire those who practice what they preech in this aspect. Now, in places where it doesn't exactly matter, like a coffee shop for example, there's no reason you could hire someone who has an attraction to their own gender. It's just based on the specific situation in my mind.
I do agree with you that the religious school should be able to pick who they want to work. I just find it troubling that Lynn Starkey, the teacher, was working there for 40 years. She was obvioulsly great there, and her marriage provided no issue until the school found out, so it's not like she was teaching the kids "to sin."
That is a very valid point Evan, thanks for pointing that out. A lesbian or gay teacher could be a very good teacher even in a catholic setting. In fact, I think people who don't follow the norm and are confident in their own paths would be the more accepting teachers.
However, I do agree with you that they should be able to choose who they hire. The laws say that the religious school can legally fire her. Since religion is the main focus of the job, the school should be able to hire/fire people as they see fit, so if someone doesn't follow the religion, then the school should be able to fire them.