A teacher at a Catholic school in Colorado was fired after officials found out she was in a relationship with a woman and saw a picture of her kissing her girlfriend.
Maggie Barton taught technology and media – and also coached basketball – at All Souls Catholic School in Englewood, Denver, for six years before she was sacked on January 25.
The decision to fire her came about following an investigation by the Archdiocese of Denver – who found an image of her kissing another woman online.
The religious leaders justified their actions, saying that all teachers are required to sign a contract ensuring that they will live their lives adhering to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
In the wake of her dismissal, the parent of a student, Kathy Weisbrod, set up a GoFundMe page to help her make ends meet. At the time of writing, the page has raised over $25,000.
Maggie Barton said in an interview with CBS Denver that she was educated in Catholic schools and felt comfortable in her faith
All Souls Catholic School is located in Englewood, a southern suburb of Denver
Bishop Samuel J. Aquila, the head of Denver’s archdiocese, pictured here
Barton spoke about the outpouring of support that she has received from the All Souls community telling Colorado Public Radio that it has been ‘incredible’ and ‘overwhelming.’
The educator said in that interview that she would regularly play guitar with the school choir during mass. She said: ‘It’s hard for me right now to figure out how to navigate what my faith looks like because of all this.’
Recently, Pope Francis made headlines when he decreed that although homosexuality remains a sin in Catholic dogma, it should not be regarded as a ‘crime.’
Barton told the Post that she had been mindful not to post photos of herself with her partner on social media even though she had been living openly as an LGBTQ+ person.
During her freshman year at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Barton said that she came out to her family.
Barton accepted a teaching position at All Souls in 2017. Discussing her love of teaching in an interview with Fox31, Barton said: ‘I just absolutely fell in love with it. I was like, “This is what I’m supposed to be doing.”‘
She added: ‘It’s discrimination. There’s no other word for it. To be terminated from a position because of my sexual orientation. That’s discrimination.’
Barton says that she has been mindful not to post photos of herself with her partner on social media even though she had been living openly as an LGBTQ+ person
In an interview, Barton described her firing saying: ‘It’s discrimination. There’s no other word for it. To be terminated from a position because of my sexual orientation. That’s discrimination’
Barton said in her interview with the Denver Post that she grew up attending Catholic schools in her home state of Texas. According to her Facebook page, she attended Bishop Lynch High School.
Speaking to CBS Denver, Barton said: ‘It is the faith I was raised in, and I wanted to teach in a catholic school because I wanted to share those values that I learned and the experience that I had with future students.’
In that interview, Barton stressed how happy she was in her job at All Saints and added that she felt as though she would never leave the school.
She also said: ‘I have a hard time understanding how being in a same-sex relationship or someone’s sexual orientation hinders your ability to do that.’
The day before she found out that the was being fired, Barton said that she received a call from someone at the archdiocese who asked her questions about her understanding about the Catholic church’s position on homosexuality.
The archdiocese statement read in part: ‘Many families do send their children to our schools expecting their children to receive an education that conforms to Catholic beliefs.’
It continued: ‘This written disclosure of the expectations, and teachers signing and committing to those requirements at the outset of each school year, is intended to protect the Catholic identity of our schools.
‘It is a promise to our parents that their children will receive an authentic and fully Catholic education. It would be unjust for a school to present itself as a Catholic school and not offer a Catholic education.’
The archdiocese says that Barton has broken her agreement with the school in pursuing a same-sex relationship
The Colorado-based LGBTQ advocacy group One Colorado said in a statement that their group stands with Barton
The Colorado-based LGBTQ advocacy group One Colorado said in a statement that their group stands with Barton.
Spokesperson Nadine Bridges said: ‘We are disappointed to see the Denver Archdiocese continue to take this harmful stance towards LGBTQ+ Coloradans.
‘Faith communities, including schools, should be a place for love and support. Denying admission to LGBTQ+ students, excluding LGBTQ+ parents from full participation, and in this case terminating LGBTQ+ teachers for no other cause than for who they love alienates and discriminates against LGBTQ+ Coloradans of Catholic faith,’ the press release concluded.
Just this month, Pope Francis said that laws criminalizing LGBT people are a sin and an injustice because God loves and accompanies people with same-sex attraction.
Francis, who made his remarks in response to a reporter’s question aboard the plane returning from a trip to Africa, received full backing of his comments from two other Christian leaders on the plane with him.
‘The criminalization of homosexuality is a problem that cannot be ignored,’ said Francis, who then cited unnamed statistics according to which 50 countries criminalize LGBT people ‘in one way or another’ and about 10 others have laws including the death penalty for them.
‘This is not right. Persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God. God loves them. God accompanies them … condemning a person like this is a sin. Criminalizing people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice,’ Francis said.
