After a nosey member of the community found out
Shelly Fitzgerald was married and informed her employer, she was called into the office.
Not because they wanted to congratulate her on her previously unknown marriage, but because they wanted to fire her.For 15 years, Shelly has worked as a guidance counselor at
Roncalli High School (RHS), a Catholic High School in Indiana. And when the school found out she was married to a woman they were not pleased.
They gave her a choice: she could either dissolve her marriage or resign from her job. Shelly isn't taking this lying down, she says she has no intention of leaving the woman she loves who she has been with for more than two decades. And she plans to hire a lawyer.
But should she have to? The school says they have every right to force Shelly to choose since all employees know that they are expected to support the teachings of the Catholic Church both in and out of school. That includes the belief that marriage is "between a man and a woman."
The fact that Shelly was in a same-sex marriage did not affect her job performance in any way. By all accounts, she was a great guidance counselor, loved by students and the community who have come to her defense. She has been in a same-sex relationship for twenty-two years and married four, but the school only believed she was a problem when they recently learned of her marital status.
Schools are supposed to teach our children values not hate, but RHS's policy is doing just that. It tells their students its OK to discriminate. Please sign the petition and ask the RHS Executive Board of Directors to change this disgraceful policy now.