Wha-huh? So Confused!

[tabbymarie]

I just read this story about a child with a married lesbian mother who was asked to be president of the PTO at his catholic school. They were well aware of her orientation and choices when she stepped up as president, but since she actively participated in the "No on Prop 8" campaign she was asked to resign as president

Comments

[adamwolf]

Well, in Belgium I think we have similar anti-discrimination laws, and for contractual labour it's very difficult to fire someone because they 'preach against your choir', as we say over here. However, being president of a PTO - I didn't know that was contractual labour.
That said, I also know that in Belgium you sign a clausule when you become a catholic religion teacher that you cannot speak against the Church or say blasphemous things, or promote a lifestyle that is contrary to the teachings of the Church. There's a lot of discussion about whether gay marriage falls under that lifestyle or not, but so far no one has been fired for it. However, there has been some weirdness.
So I guess it depends on the stipulation of her contract, if there was a contract.

[ryvka]

I could be wrong, but I believe that generally PTO positions are volunteer, so it's not like you have a contract or are paid. The thing that gets me, though, is because it is volunteer position, whatever you do outside of your work on the PTO should have absolutely no bearing on your position there. It's ridiculous. She wasn't protesting outside the school, she wasn't stomping through campus with a protest sign. She simply holds a position that is opposite to what the church believes -- so does that mean that anyone who believes something different than what the church believes can't ever hold a position on the PTO?

In a related situation, some priests are claiming that Catholics who voted for Obama should not be allowed to have communion, because he supports abortion rights. WTF? What if you're a Catholic who voted for him because of every other issue EXCEPT abortion -- you're still being held accountable because of this one issue

[adamwolf]

Well, I agree on the second example (the Obama one) because that's crossing a line. But the first, I'm not so sure about. A school teaches something, and a catholic school teaches catholic values. Since no one's precisely clear on what those are (aside from the Vatican, of course, which is always too clear on everything), it could be seen that having someone who speaks out against one of those supposed values or ideas publicly as a figure of authority within the school, clashes with the purpose of the school.
Compare it to having a state-run school and the president of PTO is a creationist who openly claims that gay people should burn in hell. How long would she last?

[ryvka]

If they're not stating it at public school meetings...then there shouldn't be a problem (and again, the woman in question was not protesting AT the school -- the protest in question was in no way related to the school, and she was doing it on her own time). In fact, I don't doubt that it is a common scenario here in America that the president of the PTO is "a creationist who openly claims that gay people should burn in hell", especially in the South. ;)

The PTO aren't really authority figures in the schools (at least generally here in the US). It's a volunteer position intended to help bridge communication between the school and parents. They do fund-raising, help buy equipment, and do other volunteer work related to the school. It's not like the school board, who is usually appointed or elected, who gets to make "real" decisions affecting the school.

To say that what you do in your own time can affect your volunteer status as a parent at the school is honestly ridiculous, IMHO -- it's the school being far too nosy into the

[fleegull]

It's very simple, it's a private school that does not receive state funds, therefore it is free to make up its' own rules relating to who is or isn't on the PTO. Catholic schools are notorious for this type of stuff, for example, they explicitly require that the health insurance that their teachers receive NOT cover birth control.

That said, they gave me a great education and for that I am eternally grateful, they also taught me to think for myself and that's led me to atheism.