[quote][url=http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2022606078_eastsidevideoxml.html]The former vice principal of Eastside Catholic school, who was terminated last month after school officials found out he had married his male partner, said in a newly released video that he was told he could keep his job if he got a divorce. Mark Zmuda, 38, a well-liked swim coach who was vice principal of Eastside’s middle and high schools until Dec. 20, said the school’s president told him he could keep his job if he divorced his husband of five months and had a commitment ceremony. Zmuda’s termination from the school of 935 students drew global attention and triggered a sit-in by Eastside Catholic high-school students and at other area Catholic schools as well as ongoing rallies and protests. In emails to faculty members and parents, Eastside Catholic’s president, Sister Mary Tracy, said students who don’t report to class Monday, when classes resume after the holidays, would be considered unexcused and their parents notified. During the 16-minute interview with one of his former students, Catrina Crittenden, Zmuda said, “Apparently the fact that I have a same-sex partner and (am) having a same-sex marriage ... they are against that. “But I also thought another teaching they were against was also divorce. I’m a little shocked that was even on the table to have me keep my job. They also offered for me to have a commitment ceremony if I were willing to get a divorce.” On the video, which was posted on YouTube Saturday, Zmuda also said he didn’t resign but was terminated — contradicting a persistent claim by the school’s attorney, Mike Patterson. Tracy referred calls to Patterson, who said Zmuda’s statement about the divorce was untrue. Patterson acknowledged he was not present for that particular conversation but said Tracy raised the idea of divorce with Zmuda only as a hypothetical question, along the lines of “would you consider a divorce ... I don’t even know if that would work.” Tracy did so, Patterson said, without legal counsel and Zmuda said it was not something he would consider. And Zmuda, he added, never brought up the issue during a conversation he had with the attorney. Patterson dismissed any further questions on Zmuda’s claims, including about the commitment ceremony, and hung up. Zmuda and his husband, Dana Jergens, who were married in July, have not spoken publicly since Zmuda lost his job Dec. 20. He reached out to Crittenden, one of his former students at Eastside, because of the wide support he’s received from students. On social media, Eastside students, alumni and a widening pool of supporters have continued to rally for him. On Saturday, they held a rally outside the offices of the Seattle Archdiocese and are planning other events, including something they are calling nationwide “Z” day, asking students and others across the country to wear orange, one of the school colors, on Jan. 31 in solidarity with Zmuda. “We will continue to write letters, lobby Church officials, and use any other means at our disposal to respectfully work toward our ultimate goal of changing the discriminatory attitudes regarding homosexuality in the Church,” local students said in a statement. In her emails to faculty and parents, Tracy said Eastside Principal Polly Skinner will meet with students this week to begin planning a workshop to bring about change at the school, where about 60 percent of the 654 high school and 281 middle school students are Catholic. Eastside is also prepared to contract with professionals to work with students “to effect progress in a meaningful, positive and impactful way,” she wrote. Tracy hosted a meeting Sunday evening with staff and faculty members to talk about “the plan we will use moving forward” and invited parents to meet with her to address questions they might have. Meanwhile, as Zmuda’s replacement, she said the school has brought in Tom Lord, recipient of the 2013 Archbishop’s Award for outstanding contributions to Catholic schools, who has served in leadership positions at several area Catholic schools, including Eastside. For a time he was interim Superintendent of Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese. On the video, Zmuda, who is Catholic, said he’s heard from well-wishers from across the globe. Before moving to Washington last year, he and Jergens lived in Florida’s Broward County, where Zmuda worked at a private Catholic high school and the two were registered as domestic partners. They said they wanted to wait until they lived in a state where same-sex marriage was legal before getting married.[/url][/quote] Opinions on this? For me, I find it odd that a private school that is affiliated with the Catholic faith is telling one of their former employees to divorce his husband. Throughout my time in the Catholic faith, which is pretty much my entire life, I have been taught by the church that divorce is sacrilegious and should never happen, so I'm wondering about this. Even Pope Francis said it was cool for gay people to be part of the faith, but didn't go into details about gay marriage. However, this makes me question: Are people so homophobic that they will be hypocrites about their own faith? I have friends that are openly gay and some that are closeted. I don't really see a problem with gay people, but my mentality would get me excommunicated from my church if I was open about it to them. So, your thoughts on this? inb4 biased news source inb4 ur gay inb4 op cant inb4 inb4 there is no inb4 Edit: Video is the interview. He was terminated not because of his work ethic, or his attitude, or anything that an employer would terminate an employee, but rather, Zmuda was terminated just because he was married to a man, and nothing else. Basically, it didn't matter if he was employee of the month/year, or had excellent work ethic. He got married to his partner and that's what gave him the boot. Edit 2: Since many people have the point going right over their heads, here is the point. I wonder if I really needed to do this, but I guess I have to, since everyone is skipping straight to legalities, which the article isn't even talking about. It's also [b]bolded[/b] and key words are [u]underlined[/u]. And since this is at the end, consider this a tl;dr. The main point: [b]It is [u]NOT[/u] an issue about legalities since the affected party isn't suing the school. It is even stated in the video interview, come on. Reading is hard, but hearing isn't. However, the main issue that is being addressed is the [u]MORALITY[/u] of the decision. If the entire faculty and many students of the student body are defending the one man against the church, that's saying something.[/b] Edit 3: [url=http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Former-vice-principal-Zmuda-To-set-the-record-straight-I-was-terminated-237795411.html]Another source for people. I will highlight the main quote.[/url] [quote]"When I was told, I asked why I was being terminated and they said because I violated Catholic teaching," Zmuda said in the interview. "I asked if it was breach of contract, they said no. I said if it had anything to do with my job performance or evaluations and they also said no."[/quote] [url=http://www.eastsidecatholic.org/aboutec/careers]Taken directly from the school's website, defeating the purpose of everyone saying: "It's a private school, their rules".[/url] While I can understand the private school rules since I attended one as a child (And hated it), this is what is on their site, copy and pasted. So please stop using the "It's their rules" argument, because I can do the same thing, only it counters people actually [u]defending[/u] this decision. [quote][b]Eastside Catholic School does not discriminate on the basis of an employee’s or applicant’s race, religion, creed, color, sex, age, national origin, disability, marital status, [u][i]sexual orientation[/i][/u] or any other status or condition protected by local, state or federal law. [u][i]Discrimination or harassment on the basis of any status or condition protected by local, state or federal law is strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated at Eastside Catholic School.[/i][/u][/b][/quote] Please don't bring up the legalities again unless you have read the above quote that is straight from their website.