Canadian Teacher, Fired for Being in Gay Relationship, Won’t Sue

by Kilian Melloy

EDGE Staff Reporter

Friday April 30, 2010

A lesbian teacher in Canada who was not permitted to return to the classroom after her same-sex partner gave birth to their son has said that she will not lodge a complaint against the Catholic school, even though she says that the way the school handled the situation is "dishonorable," an April 29 Canadian Press article said.

"I'm going to let this unfold," said Lisa Reimer, who had been hired as a music instructor by Little Flower Academy, a Catholic all-girls school, for one year, as a replacement for a teacher who was away on maternity leave. Reimer has asked for parental leave herself, which the school denied, but she was granted three weeks of personal leave, the article said.

But just before she was scheduled to return to the classroom, Reimer claims, she was brought in for a meeting and told that she would not be allowed to resume teaching in the classroom. She was told to prepare lessons that could be delivered online.

"I have been instructed that all the classes are cancelled and I'm not to come into the school at all or have any direct contact with the students," said Reimer, "but I am to provide all the classes, through Grade 8 to 12, an online written assignment." Continued Reimer, "You wouldn't give a written assignment in a performing arts class to make up an entire term."

GLBT equality advocate group Pride Education Network claimed in an April 28 press release that the principal of the Little Flower Academy had informed Reimer that parents of some of the students were worried "the girls might follow Ms. Reimer's lead." One member of the group, Steve LeBel, used to be a teacher; he said that the school's pupils were being given the message that, "our principal thinks it's fine to let someone go because they're a lesbian."

Instructors at Catholic schools are often contractually required to abide by church teachings; instructors who are not Catholic, as is the case with Reimer, are required to treat the church's doctrines with respect. So-called "Catholicity clauses" stem from a 1984 court case that established precedent in Canadian law that allows non-profit religious organizations to give preference to members of their own faith over non-members, and makes it possible for employees to be terminated if the employer determines that he or she is not following a faith's religious principles, reported The Vancouver Sun on April 29. In the 1984 case, Caldwell vs. St. Thomas Aquinas, a teacher was fired from a Catholic high school after she married a divorced man. That precedent could be invoked today to fire a teacher for living with a life partner out of wedlock, the article said.

The Canadian Supreme Court upheld that legal principle in a 2001 case that challenged Trinity Western University, a religious school, for its mandate that students avoid same-sex intimacy along with other "biblically condemned" behavior.

But the Sun noted that some view the 1984 precedent as out of step with the times. Vancouver attorney Tom Beasley who specializes in employment and labor issues, told the Sun that, "The question in this case is a conflict between the fundamental right of freedom of religion and sexual orientation." Added Beasley, "Society has evolved a fair bit since 1984 and the Caldwell decision. The approach taken by society to human rights matters and the interplay between religion and sexual orientation, as one example, has changed. So I am sure the courts will look at this differently than they did 30 years ago."

Religion vs. Rights

Geoffrey Howard, another Vancouver labor and employment lawyer, noted that if Reimer wished to pursue the matter, she might have grounds to challenge the "Catholicity" clause in her contract because Little Flower Academy, while a private religious school, receives government funding. "I think that it is time to revisit Caldwell," Howard told the Sun. "I think this case is very significant. Just see how many societal issues are raised here. Sexual orientation is just a small part of this. Look at the issue of family rights, of parental rights, of other rights."

Superintendent of the Catholic Independent Schools of Vancouver Archdiocese Doug Lauson told the Sun, "In this type of issue you are basically fighting the rights and freedoms of religion versus the rights and freedom of an individual. Which one is going to trump the other is the ultimate question." Moreover, "It is the practice of sexuality that distinguishes what the Church will accept and not accept," Lauson said. "So a heterosexual practicing sexual relations out of wedlock is no different than a homosexual practicing sexual relations outside of marriage." That said, however, "When it comes to gay and lesbian people, the Church actually teaches that human dignity extends to all people, whether they be homosexual, heterosexual, short, fat, thin, white, black, it doesn't make any difference," Lauson pointed out.

Such a Catholicity clause was reportedly included in Reimer's contract with Little Flower Academy, but, said Reimer, "I was not made aware that my personal life would be judged by anyone," the Canadian News story reported. Reimer says that she was told that parents of the school's pupils would not accept her being a lesbian with a life partner and a child.

"After she and her partner had this child she wanted to make that a part of the school life and we weren't inclined to agree to that," the head of the Academy's board of directors, Celso Boscariol, said. "After she and her partner had this child she wanted to make that a part of the school life and we weren't inclined to agree to that." Added Boscariol, "It was made clear to her that 'Look, this is not on,' and we had a discussion with her that the best thing to do under the circumstances was that she could complete her assignments from home and we would pay her out to the end of the year because we didn't want to put her in a situation of financial hardship."

However, Boscariol says that the issue of whether parents would accept Reimer or not was not the main issue. "I really didn't deal with any parent concerns and we're not really responding to parent concerns," he told the media, adding, "It's not like a mob of people showed up demanding things be done. We're just conducting ourselves within the tenets of the Catholic faith."

But Reimer denies that she told her students anything about her private life or family situation, and says that at the meeting she was told that parents had reservations about her being in the classroom. Reimer also told the media that when she first asked about parental leave--which the school does not offer in general as a matter of policy--the principal and vice principal advised her that she could take three weeks of personal leave, but if the reason for it were discovered--namely, that Reimer had a female spouse who was giving birth--the school might be compelled to fire her.

Meantime, she said, the students weren't getting the music education that they ought to receive. Moreover, Reimer opined that the school's handling of the matter "sends an archaic message to the youth of our province, I think that's dishonorable." Added Reimer, "I think it tells them it is OK to be bigoted and to be homophobic and that it's OK to make deals behind closed doors with no witnesses," reported The Vancouver Sun in an April 29 follow up. "I really care about the girls and am really proud of them and enjoyed working with them."

"I'm certainly concerned about the allegations that were reported," said Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid, who said that she found out about the issue from news media reports, but added that her office would look into the allegations. "Generally speaking, there are labor laws, there are human rights laws in British Columbia that have to be upheld."

In the United States, the question of GLBT civil protections and the sensitivities of religious institutions have generated sparks on occasion. Students at a Catholic school in Boulder, Colorado, were not readmitted because they had two lesbian mothers, reports said.

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.