Benedictine University: It's Moral for Catholics to Fire Gay People

Benedictine University in Springfield, Illinois took quite the hit to its reputation yesterday, when word broke that they terminated a five-year employee, Laine Tadlock, solely because she had the audacity to publish her same-sex wedding announcement in a local paper. Outraged that an employee would let her community know that she found the love of her life, Benedictine University worked to make sure that Tadlock was disciplined and removed from the employment rolls.

The move by Benedictine University drew hundreds of emails, sent directly to Benedictine's President, William Carroll. The message was simple: reinstate Tadlock to her position, because her decision to get gay married has absolutely no impact on her professional life whatsoever. For Benedictine University to punish Tadlock for the same-sex wedding announcement sends a message rooted in intolerance, and also violates the University's own anti-discrimination policy, which includes protections based on sexual orientation.

Now, a day later, Benedictine University has issued an official response. And they don't care how unhappy people are that they punished Tadlock for announcing her wedding. Why? Because they believe it's moral for Catholics to fire gay people.

In an email sent from the President's Office, Benedictine University said that Tadlock's decision to announce her same-sex wedding violated tenets of Catholicism. As such, the University had no choice but to discipline her.

"Benedictine University, as its equal opportunity policy states, does not discriminate on the basis of any legally protected group or status, including sexual orientation. It was not Tadlock's orientation, but rather the public disregard for fundamental Catholic beliefs, which was the basis of the University's decisions," the University said.

What a load. "Oh, we're not firing her because she's gay. We're firing her...because she acted on her homosexual feelings by falling in love with someone and getting married." So really, they fired her for being gay.

The University goes on to say that technically they didn't fire Tadlock, and that she actually chose to resign because she wouldn't accept a move to a different position at the school. Talk about spin doctoring. The school punished Tadlock by telling her to either take a new job outside of her comfort level, or resign. That's some decision to force upon an employee of more than five years, solely because she married someone.

A full copy of Benedictine University's statement can be viewed here.

Here's the thing: we know there are people at Benedictine University who view the decision to terminate Tadlock as egregious. After all, Tadlock was out among her coworkers, and many knew that she was married earlier this summer in Iowa. One coworker even resigned in protest of Tadlock's termination, telling the school that she couldn't work for an institution that punished gay employees like this.

So are you an alum, a current student, a staff member, a donor to the University or a Catholic in the Springfield Diocese, outraged that Benedictine University would punish an employee for publishing a same-sex wedding announcement? If so, drop us a line at lgbtwriters@change.org. We'd love to gather some comments from supporters in the community, and we promise to keep them totally and completely anonymous.

We've got a petition here where you can continue to put pressure on Benedictine University. Let's couple that with some local community pressure, too, and send a message to Benedictine University that they failed their own anti-discrimination policies, they failed their University community by acting out of intolerance, and they punished an employee of more than five years just for falling in love.

Photo credit: Benedictine University Facebook