Teacher Fired for Being Gay

[Dr. Who]

You're being idiotic now. How do you prove, or know, who's lying or gossiping or spreading rumors? You said this because you don't have any response.

Have you never worked in an office environment? Anyone who wants to hear gossip will hear it. In order not to hear it you have to deliberately avoid it. Teachers gossip as much as anyone else. Church goers gossip constantly - one of the reasons that I don't like them.

[Dr. Who]

The school is clearly attempting to have it both ways: secular enough to receive public funding, while being religious enough to impose their doctrinal beliefs on employees.

Turns out they are Presbyterian and are receiving public funding because of Bill 7070. Totally unconstitutional, by the way.

[Standing Wolf]

You're being idiotic now. How do you prove, or know, who's lying or gossiping or spreading rumors? You said this because you don't have any response.

How do you prove or know who is, in Peter's words, "having gay sex"? Is she doing it publicly? Do you want your employer investigating your sex life and demanding that you conduct it only within the bounds of what he or she considers moral, decent or acceptable?

[Standing Wolf]

Turns out they are Presbyterian and are receiving public funding because of Bill 7070. Totally unconstitutional, by the way.

It will go to court, the schools involved will lose, and the usual suspects will whine and wail about the "war on Christianity".

[Peter1469]

How do you prove or know who is, in Peter's words, "having gay sex"? Is she doing it publicly? Do you want your employer investigating your sex life and demanding that you conduct it only within the bounds of what he or she considers moral, decent or acceptable?

She told the school that she was dating a woman.

Keep up. You're not dead yet.

[Rooster]

That's all. She didn't beat up a kid, didn't do drugs, didn't rape anyone, she just admitted to being gay.

This, my friends, is why we need federal protection under the Civil Rights Act for gays. And if a so-called Christian institution fails to acknowledge their rights, it should lose any and all federal funding.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opin...474-story.html
Monica Lisciandro was fired from her job teaching theater at Covenant Christian School in Brevard County after the school last year learned she was gay. That's legal in Florida. The school received more than $900,000 in voucher money from the state of Florida last year. (Orlando Sentinel)
For two years, administrators at Covenant Christian School in Brevard County were happy to have Monica Toro Lisciandro as a teacher.
Until they learned she was gay.
That’s when the school — which received more than $900,000 in public money last year through the state’s voucher program — decided she was no longer fit to teach.At first, Toro Lisciandro wasn’t sure she understood what was happening.

She was preparing to teach her musical-theater class last month when she was summoned to the administrator’s office and told of “allegations” against her.
Her mind whirred. Allegations? What allegations?
Someone had reported she was gay.
“Yes, it’s true,” she responded. “I do have a girlfriend.”
Then she was told she could no longer work at the school.
The school would later release a statement saying “all employees must agree to and model our position on human sexuality, which is based on the biblical teaching that asks all Christ-followers to abstain from any sexual activities outside of one-man, one-woman marriage.”




At first, Toro Lisciandro was overcome with an emotion she hadn’t felt since the days when she was closeted … shame.
“For a second, all that shame — all that stuff — came back to me,” she said.
She had classes full of middle and high school students she loved. She knew the students liked her. Yet she was being told she was no longer worthy of being around them.
Toro Lisciandro said no one had ever mentioned the school’s anti-gay policy before. She hadn’t hid her sexual orientation. Heck, she’d been involved in Pride events and hosted LGBT events at her acting studio in Viera. But none of that was part of the classes she taught at the school three days a week.
Toro Lisciandro was shocked and depressed … until students started reaching out to say they missed her and thought she’d gotten a raw deal.
I think the kids got a raw deal, too.
They were robbed of their teacher and given a firsthand look at institutional discrimination.
It’s all completely legal in Florida.
While many public districts, such as Orange, have policies that ban discrimination based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and more, Florida has no law banning discrimination against LGBT employees in general.
And whereas public schools must accept all students, schools in the state’s publicly funded voucher program can refuse to serve LGBT families — even if they get money from the state’s corporate tax credit “scholarship” program.
Many voucher schools actually spell out their discriminatory policies.
At Merritt Island Christian School, homosexuality is the only expulsion-worthy sin for students listed in its “ethics” policy.
At Volusia’s Trinity Christian Academy, students are told that simply saying “I am gay” is “basis for dismissal.”
Those two schools got more than $1.7 million in public money last year.
Of course, many churches, including those with schools, welcome all. Mine sure does.Most schools with anti-gay policies claim their discrimination is rooted in their Christians values.
It’s the same thing segregationists used to say
In one infamous case, a Virginia judge ruled in 1965 that blacks and whites couldn’t marry each other because “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents … The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.”
In Covenant Christian’s case, Head of School Lorne Wenzel said married, heterosexual sex was the only kind God allows (which presumes he inquires about and fires any single teachers who mess around as well).
Still, Wenzel said in his statement the school also believes “every person is created by God and has inherent value and worth” and that “We uphold and affirm this inherent worth of every person.”
Toro Lisciandro took issue with that:
“To say that you ‘uphold and affirm the inherent worth of every person’ while at the same time saying that they can’t teach children if you are gay is like smiling while slapping someone in the face and then hugging them afterwards.”
Voucher schools in Florida don’t limit their discrimination to LGBT families. Some also have policies against disabled children and certain religions.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and GOP lawmakers defend that right to discriminate by saying the state isn’t directly funding these schools — that families are the ones choosing to use their state money at discriminatory schools
Florida governor, legislators back state funding for private, anti-LGBT schools | Commentary »
I say: If you take public money, you should also accept all of the public.
That’s how some legislators think it should be as well. State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, is among those sponsoring bills to crack down on LGBT discrimination in hiring and say that any school that takes public money must also accept all students
Republican Senate President Bill Galvano has said he believes the issue deserves consideration.
Eskamani was particularly troubled by Toro Lisciandro’s case, saying: “If they treat teachers like this, imagine how they treat students.”

Rep. Anna V. Eskamani @AnnaForFlorida





Just spoke to Monica, this teacher in Brevard who was fired for being #LGBTQ. She is sharing her story & I am proud to help. We must pass #HB45/#SB56, & @flcompetes so we can ban discrimination in our state & allow every Floridian to live life as their authentic self. #LoveIsLove https://twitter.com/AnnaForFlorida/status/1185588011548971008 …
Rep. Anna V. Eskamani @AnnaForFlorida


Teacher was fired by a PRIVATE VOUCHER SCHOOL for being gay. That’s why we must pass #HB45/#SB56 & ban public dollars from going to any private school that discriminates their kids— if they treat teachers like this, imagine how they’ll treat students. https://www.floridatoday.com/story/n...ay/3908379002/ …

Gays are detrimental to our country. Some teachers are now teaching kids to accept the concept of gayness. Gays represent 2% of our population, but since they have been protected they are getting louder and more demanding. Isn't it always the way when a minuscule minority buys off our $#@! politicians?
These people had their own clubs and social gatherings before the government provided legal protection...so what did they want? Formal acceptance? Good riddance to that fruitcake teacher!

[Dr. Who]

It will go to court, the schools involved will lose, and the usual suspects will whine and wail about the "war on Christianity".

They will probably also lose on the basis that the FLA constitution only permits the public funding of public schools - how novel and logically consistent.

[Mister D]

The Governor appointed 3 new conservative Justices in January. According to The Sentinel, it's the most conservative court in decades.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sun...outputType=amp

[FindersKeepers]

What funding? The state gives vouchers to be used as the student chooses. The state has the right to give the vouchers. The student has the right to choose where to use them. Freedom and all that.

Vouchers -- because they're essentially taxpayer money -- come with strings. And one of those strings is the requirement not to discriminate. If a private school wants to discriminate -- they have every right to do so -- just don't accept vouchers. Homeschools don't get vouchers for schooling their children. And homeschoolers can discriminate to their heart's content.

[FindersKeepers]

How do you prove or know who is, in Peter's words, "having gay sex"? Is she doing it publicly? Do you want your employer investigating your sex life and demanding that you conduct it only within the bounds of what he or she considers moral, decent or acceptable?

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

It's the "ick" factor. Some grow up believing that sex should be only one way, and I knew a woman who eventually left her husband because she was taught sex was to be endured in missionary position with her eyes closed and heaven forbid, he asked for oral sex. Eventually, the ick factor broke them up.

My philosophy is that if two adults are consenting -- they can do whatever they choose -- it doesn't hurt me and it's not my business.

Realistically, the teacher who was fired deserves a better school in which to teach, and hopefully, she'll find one. Gays have been with us since the dawn of time, and the biblical David and Jonathon numbered among them. Despite that, God said David's heart was pure, but the Religious Right does not accept that, so go figure.

We recently had a thread about why Christianity was in decline. This is why. This is the real reason. A growing number of humans no longer accept discrimination and hatred in God's name. Unless these few remaining denominations see the light, they will continue to find members leaving their churches. It's simple social evolution. The young generations are more accepting and less hateful -- the handwriting is on the wall.