Gay Catholic teachers wary of clause
Religious pledge in contract seen by some as ban on homosexuality
A requirement for Edmonton Catholic school teachers to sign a clause in their employment contracts with the school district where they pledge to maintain Catholic values breeds fear and uncertainty, several LGBTQ teachers say.
A standard clause included in all of the district’s teacher employment contracts includes six religious conditions, including that the teacher “undertakes to follow, both in and out of school, a lifestyle and deportment in harmony with Catholic Church practices and beliefs, which include, among other things, participation in the sacraments of the church and living in harmony with the principles of the gospel and the teachings of the Catholic Church.”
The board or the teacher may seek a bishop’s assistance to clarify church principles and teachings, reads the contract, which was obtained by Postmedia.
“I think the ambiguousness of ‘Living a Catholic lifestyle inside and outside your work’ — it feels like a way to just say, you can’t be gay,” said one gay Edmonton Catholic teacher. Postmedia is not identifying the teachers to prevent them from facing professional repercussions.
Last week, past Calgary Catholic school principal Barb Hamilton said she is filing a human rights complaint alleging she was pushed to resign because of her sexual orientation.
CONTRACT ‘LOOPHOLE’
Three LGBTQ teachers, all of who currently work for Edmonton Catholic Schools, say the clause in their contracts is a “loophole” that leaves them constantly anxious that a complaint from a parent about their sexual orientation, or an unsupportive principal, could end their employment in the district.
The teachers said the clause also prompts their colleagues to hide when they get divorced, use birth control, live with a partner out of wedlock, or use in vitro fertilization, which more conservative Catholics may frown upon.
The first teacher said they feel comfortable being “out” at their school, but wants to hear a strong message from the school board and superintendent that teachers will not be fired or forced out because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“The fact that I haven’t been fired yet is a good sign, but what is the line that’s going to be enough? Because, there is a clause there,” they said. “When am I going to be too gay?”
Another LGBTQ teacher said it was “terrifying ” to sign the contract years ago, but they grew up Catholic, they were in the closet and they needed a job.
“My life was totally hidden,” they said. “I thought, ‘I can do this.’”
Although a few colleagues now know they are married to a samesex spouse, the teacher is careful about who they tell.
“I think a lot of us take mental health days,” they said. “It is constantly carrying around this mask. Who can you trust? Who can you not trust? Do I say something? Once you lie to one colleague, you have to lie to a few more. It does get exhausting.”
Postmedia is using “they” in the attribution to ensure the gender of the LGBTQ teacher remains unknown.
In a Thursday email, Edmonton Catholic Schools spokeswoman Lori Nagy said administrators are “very concerned” if any employee feels they work in a culture of fear. The wording has been included in teacher contracts for a long time, she said.
The school district has places employees can turn for assistance, including guidelines that spell out how they can report workplace concerns, an employee family assistance plan, human resources staff and external counselling services, Nagy said.
How does the Catholicity clause apply to LGBTQ people or unmarried teachers living with partners? Nagy said, “The district abides by all our legal obligations in this regard.”
PASTORAL LETTER NEEDED FOR CONTRACT
When first applying to teach at Edmonton Catholic, candidates must complete a Faith Formation Plan asking how they plan to be an active member of their parish community and contribute to the Catholic culture of the school, among other questions. To be hired for a “continuing contract,” they need a letter of endorsement from their priest, or, for non-Catholic teachers, a letter from a leader of their faith.
For teachers to accept an administrative position, such as a principal, they must sign a second agreement that also includes a Catholicity clause.
It says, “Catholic school administrators shall be credible representatives of the Catholic faith tradition, and inspiring models of Christian living, and effective teachers of the faith through their areas of expertise and the example they set.”
An administrative procedure also says non-Catholics are ineligible for administrator positions in the district.
An out, gay Edmonton Catholic teacher said he worries his sexual orientation stands in the way of advancing his career in the district. In a recent application for an administrative role, he excluded his volunteer experience with LGBTQ organizations because he was worried how it might look.
A colleague warned him to be more careful about what he posts on social media.
He grew up attending Catholic schools, and many family members teach in Catholic schools, so it was a comfortable place for him to start his career, he said. Hearing Hamilton’s story from Calgary frightened him, he said.
“I know I’m going to be looked over for opportunities because I’m gay.”
‘REASONABLE’ DISCRIMINATION
How do these contractual obligations jibe with the Alberta Human Rights Act, which protects employees from discrimination based on religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and other grounds?
Eric Adams, a University of Alberta law professor with expertise in employment law, said the human rights act contains two caveats that allow employers to discriminate. The first is a “bona fide occupational requirement,” such as the need for an airline pilot to pass an eye exam.
Another section of the act gives employers a “get out of discrimination free card” if they can argue a choice was “reasonable and justifiable” in the circumstances, he said.
The exceptions give protection to churches, for example, to hire employees of their faith. If challenged, a Catholic school might argue it is a unique environment that requires different employment practices, Adams said.
“(The Catholicity clause) could not withstand scrutiny in virtually any other workplace,” Adams said.
Like the case of students at Trinity Western University required to sign a religious covenant, it’s another scenario that pits religious rights against equality rights, said Patricia Paradis, director of the U of A’s Centre for Constitutional Studies.
Thus far, courts have ruled there is no hierarchy of human rights, Paradis said. “I just wonder, at what point the courts are going to deal specifically with these issues, because they continue to come up over and over again, and increasingly so,” she said.
Tonya Callaghan, an associate professor of education at the University of Calgary ’s Weklund School
of Education, left her job as a Catholic school teacher to research institutionalized homophobia in the Catholic school system.
Catholicity clauses are disproportionately used to push out LGBTQ teachers, she said.
Schools aren’t using contracts to squeeze out teachers who use contraception or live with boyfriends, she said. “We don’t see news stories about that. Those things are not happening,” she said/