Shorter University, a small university in Rome, Georgia that you’ve likely never heard of before today, has announced that it will now be requiring each of its employees sign a “pledge of personal lifestyle.” The pledge is an assertion that the employee is not gay, and does not “engage in all sexuality not in agreement with the Bible, including, but not limited to premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality.”

Employees who fail to sign the pledge face termination of their contract.

If you’re wondering whether this is legal, wonder no more: It is. Since Shorter University doesn’t receive any federal funding, it doesn’t have to adhere to federal nondiscrimination regulations.

Well, you know what they say: When in Rome, Georgia… don’t do as the Romans do or you’ll be fired.

• Baptist university says employees must pledge they are not gay [Digital Journal]

A Vancouver music teacher has been suspended from teaching at a Catholic high school after parents found out that she was a lesbian, according to a news release from the Pride Education Network this week.

Lisa Reimer had taken some time off to celebrate the birth of her first child with her partner. When she returned, she was told that all her music classes had been cancelled and that the remainder of her contract with the school would be spent grading papers from home. The principal noted that while the school administration was confident in Ms. Reimer’s teaching ability, many parents were concerned about her “potential influence” on students.  (All gay music teachers, of course, posses a powerful Pied Piper magic that, if gone unchecked, will lead students directly into the river Gay.)

While Little Flower Academy is a Catholic school, it receives public funding and is thereby subject to Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, protecting staff against employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. The school was quick to emphasize that they didn’t actually fire Ms. Reimer, but there are ways to discriminate other than just firing someone. Right?

• Lesbian teacher told to work from home, group says [CBC News]
• B.C. teacher claims school sent her home for being gay [CTV News]

The St. Albert Catholic School Board has fired a transgendered substitute teacher for being, well, transgenered.

The teacher’s union representing Mr. Jan Buterman has filed a human rights complaint over the firing, with incontrovertible evidence of workplace discrimination. “Since you made a personal choice to change your gender,” a letter received from the school board to Mr. Buterman reads, “we have to remove you from the substitute teacher list.” The letter adds that “the teaching of the Catholic Church is that persons cannot change their gender.”

Gee, they sure go through a lot of trouble to make sure students never have contact with any GLBT role models. I mean, can you imagine what would happen to the students if that were to happen? Surely one shudders at the very thought!

Say… You know, the name of the school board sounds awfully familiar to me… Oh, that’s right! It’s the one in which I spent my entire grade school education. Funny, I still turned out gay.

Now, normally religious institutions are exempt from following human rights laws, but the St. Albert Catholic School Board is publicly funded which throws a bit of a kink into that argument. I don’t know how this human rights complaint will turn out, mind you. Alberta technically does not recognize transgendered individuals in its human rights legislation (and consequently tramples over them whenever possible), but I would hope that either the board follows the same, respectful antidiscrimination laws that other publicly funded institutions are required to follow, or find private sources of funding.

(Hat tip to Mercedes Allen for the story. Read more over at Dented Blue Mercedes.)

• Transgendered teacher files complaint over firing [CBC News]

Anyone got a golf score clicker I can use?

An Anglican priest in Saskatoon will have his minister’s license stripped for not refusing to perform same-sex marriages. Reverend Shawn Sanford Beck said he’d rather be dismissed than go against his conscience:

[Denying same-sex marriages] goes against everything else I’m about in my ministry and everything else that the church stands for. I’m trying to send a very strong message to the gay and lesbian community, and to other communities that have been alienated from the church, that we don’t all think the same and there are people willing to go to the wall.

While I commend Reverend Beck for his stand, his ejection doesn’t surprise me considering the Anglican Church is willing to shut down entire congregations and punish retired Archbishops over their pro-gay stance. Of course, the Catholic church is also quite happy to fire priests, deny communion to elderly volunteers and rescind charity money over gay speakers.

This judgment is apparently called the “What Would Jesus Do?” approach.

Incidentally, in addition to losing his minister’s license, Reverend Beck will no longer be able to continue working for a Lutheran inner-city project. Yep, that’ll teach him to treat gay people as ordinary human beings!

• Sask. priest cut from church for performing gay marriages [Star Phoenix]
• Priest fired over same-sex marriage [Montréal Gazette]

Ah, so that’s what Jesus would do!

The congregation of the Holy Cross Church is reeling after Bishop Richard Gagnon fired their favorite priest, Father Michael Favero, for refusing to dismiss a gay employee.

Father Favero indicated that firing the gay office manager would have gone against his concience, and chose to be dismissed rather than compromise his integrity. Parishoner Monica Kowalewski said Favero was a “hero” for taking that stance, and that Bishop Gagnon needs to apologize for his un-Christian behaviour:

Not only has [Father Favero] been fired from our church, he’s been barred from undertaking any priestly functions anywhere. He should be offered the opportunity to return to Holy Cross, and if he doesn’t want to come back, at least he can work elsewhere.

So, there you have it: Since same-sex marriage has become reality, churches have fired priests for refusing to dismiss gay employees, refused communion to gay parishoners, and suspended the marriage licenses of archbishops who bless gay couples.

Guess that terrifying slippery slope was actually more like a rope-tow, huh?

• Gay firing riles churchgoers [Victoria News]

Lindsay Willow is a gym teacher. She is also a lesbian. One fine September, Ms. Willow was busy organizing an equipment storage room with a student helper. After the room was all tidy, they both washed their hands and stepped into the hallway. The end.

Oh, wait, no; I forgot to mention—one more thing happened. A minor detail, really. You see, at that moment, a fellow teacher saw the two leaving the locker room and, because Ms. Willow is gay, presumed her to be a child molester! He then presented outlandish allegations to his colleagues, the principal, and, of course, the police. The former two believed the loony yarn without any evidence whatsoever, and Ms. Willow was severely disciplined.

Sound unbelievable? Well, it happened! The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission announced last week that Ms. Willow was falsely accused of molestation based solely on her sexual orientation. The tribunal then ordered the Halifax Regional School Board to deliver a full written apology and monetary compensation for their prejudiced nonsense. Because, you know, there’s no heartfelt apology quite like a court-ordered heartfelt apology.

As for the moral of the story, let this be a lesson to all the gays out there: Never wash your hands.

• Rights board vindicates gay N.S. teacher [Globe and Mail]
• Tribunal sides with gay teacher in rights fight [Globe and Mail]