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Gay Marriages Confront Catholic School Rules By MICHAEL PAULSONJAN. 22, 2014 SAMMAMISH, Wash. — Eastside Catholic prides itself on teaching acceptance. At the end of Crusader Way, by the school’s entrance, banners hang celebrating “relationships” and exhorting passers-by to “remember to take care of each other.” Students use a sign-language gesture to remind one another of the school’s emphasis on unconditional love. But now the school is unexpectedly grappling with how it defines both love and acceptance. Last month, a well-regarded vice principal was forced to leave his job as soon as administrators became aware that he had married a man; in the weeks since, the suburban Seattle school has been roiled, first by protests in support of the vice principal, and then by the resignations of those who sought his departure. The chairman of the school’s board resigned last month, and on Tuesday, Eastside, a middle and high school with about 900 students, announced the resignation of its president. The ouster of Mr. Z, as the former vice principal, Mark Zmuda, is known, comes amid a wave of firings and forced resignations of gay men and lesbians from Roman Catholic institutions across the country, in most cases prompted not directly by the employees’ sexuality, but by their decisions to marry as same-sex marriage becomes legal in an increasing number of states. This month, the band and choir director at a Catholic school in Ohio was fired hours after he told the school’s president that he planned to marry his boyfriend; in December, a French and Spanish teacher at a Catholic school in Pennsylvania was fired days after telling his principal he was applying for a marriage license in New Jersey. Similar ousters have taken place at Catholic schools, universities and parishes in Arkansas, California, Illinois, Missouri, New York and North Carolina. For Catholic school and church leaders across the country, the iss ue is clear. The Roman Catholic Church opposes same-sex marriage, and school officials, including Mr. Zmuda, generally sign contracts saying they will abide by church teachings so that their lives can be models for their students. But for some young Catholics, the firings are mystifying, particularly given the new tone set by Pope Francis. At Eastside Catholic, some students have taken to crafting banners with the quotation “Who am I to judge?,” words uttered by the pope when asked about gay priests; others have been trying to reach the pope via Twitter, hoping he will somehow intercede. “He made it safe for people to raise issues and questions that, in the past, they were shut down for,” said Nancy Walton-House, whose son attended Eastside. “There’s a lot of hope, and maybe some naïveté, about how fast things can happen.” Eastside’s senior-class president, Bradley Strode, a 17-year-old wrestler and lacrosse player, is seeking a meeting with the archbishop of Seattle, arguing that even if the church’s doctrine does not change, its employment practices should. “It was just shocking that the Catholic Church would turn its back on a teacher for something that didn’t affect his work performance,” he said. “Gay marriage was something I never really thought about before, but everyone can agree that employment discrimination is wrong.” “Pope Francis has often reminded us of the limitless mercy of God, for Jesus came to bring his father’s mercy,” Archbishop Sartain said. “At the same time, Pope Francis has also reminded us of our responsibility as Catholics to live the timeless truth of church teaching on a wide variety of topics, including the sacredness of traditional marriage.” Some students have quietly expressed support for the decision to remove Mr. Zmuda, but the prevailing sentiment at the school has been upset, reflecting, in part, the shifting attitudes toward same-sex marriage among young people. “A lot of it is just generational,” said Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at Notre Dame who studies the religious lives of teenagers. “It’s a distinct minority who thinks there’s something wrong with same-sex relationships, and that’s a big change from older generations.” Eastside Catholic, faced with intense blowback and sustained publicity over the removal of Mr. Zmuda, has defended its decision but is clearly concerned about the impact on applicants and donors as some students, parents and alumni ask what the ouster means about the school they have chosen and cheered. This month, in a step many in the school community have found confusing, administrators gave a short-term contract to a choreographer who, in a show of support for Mr. Zmuda, had announced on talk radio that she was engaged to her girlfriend. “It’s great that they’re keeping me, but it’s a little confusing,” said the choreographer, Stephanie Merrow, 41, who taught the school’s students to dance in a 2012 production of “Footloose,” and is now doing the same for this year’s production of “Guys and Dolls.” “I feel for them,” she said. “I think maybe a mistake was made, and now what do they do?” The school’s president, Sister Mary E. Tracy, had also sent mixed signals. She initially suggested to Mr. Zmuda that he might be able to keep his job if he got divorced, and then oversaw his ouster. After weeks of protest, she asked Julia Burns, an 18-year-old senior, to share with the public this comment: “I look forward to the day when no individual loses their job because they are married to a person of the same sex.” Sister Mary did not respond to requests for an interview. On Tuesday, when the board announced Sister Mary’s resignation, it called the step “a difficult, but necessary decision so that a new leader can be brought in to ensure the entire Eastside Catholic community is moving forward on a positive path.” Mr. Zmuda had not been at the school long, but he was liked by students, especially on the swim team, which he coached. He married in July, seven months after same-sex marriage became legal in Washington State, and he was ousted in December, shortly after the school’s administration received a complaint from a teacher about his marital status. As students began to hear about his dismissal, they sprang into action. “I found out about it and just texted 15 or 16 people,” said Ian Edwards, 17, a senior. Word spread quickly, and students staged an impromptu sit-in, skipping classes and gathering in a commons to talk, and, in some cases, to cry. “We just shouldn’t allow this discrimination to happen.” Over the next weeks, the students took to social media to rally support, gathering signatures on an online petition and communicating via Twitter and texts. They protested outside Sammamish City Hall, at a Seahawks game and outside the archdiocese of Seattle, where they were joined by Ed Murray, then the city’s mayor-elect, who is Catholic and gay. Also this month, many students wore orange — the more attention-getting of the school’s two colors — to class one day to express their concern; and on Jan. 31, the students are hoping that other Catholic schools across the nation will join them in a similar act. Alumni and parents are organizing online as they seek to force change at the school. “If I had read the school handbook and it said, ‘We will hire you, but if we find out you are gay and you are married, we will fire you,’ I would not have put my kids there,” said Florence Colburn, who has two children at the school. And Corey Sinser, 26, said he was an enthusiastic alumnus (class of 2006), but that now, “I worry that this will have a negative effect on the type of students who want to come, or the type of teachers who want to work there.” Some are hoping Mr. Zmuda will get his job back; others are seeking a change in the school’s employment practices. Julia Troy, 17, a senior, said she believed that speaking up was an outcome itself. “I have gay friends, and I care about them,” she said. “Even if all that happens is they know that I support them, that’s enough for me.”
