Colorado's LGBTQ+ religious leaders speak out after Catholic school teacher fired over relationship
DENVER — Maggie Barton loved her job as a technology teacher and media specialist at All Souls Catholic School. She loved the smiling faces of children and working in an environment preaching a religion she loves.
The job meant so much to Barton that she was willing to hide her relationship status with another woman, as same-sex relationships are prohibited by the Archdiocese of Denver.
Barton went to great lengths to shield her relationship status — careful not to post photos of the two on her social media and ensuring her girlfriend had a private account.
Because she worked so hard to keep her job and love life separate, Barton’s heart sank when she received a call from the principal at All Souls Catholic School on Jan. 25 letting her know the Archdiocese was sent a photo of her and her girlfriend. The principal didn’t have answers on Barton’s job status but told her the situation was “bad.”
The next day, Barton said she was terminated by a representative from the Archdiocese.
“It was a very emotional conversation. It all happened so fast for me,” Barton said in an interview with Rocky Mountain PBS. “I went into shock and I was really upset because I know my faith.”
Barton said her girlfriend’s Instagram account — where the photo sent to the Archdiocese was pulled from — is set to “private,” with a small number of followers. The couple has no idea how a private photo of them reached the church and said they felt betrayed in knowing a private photo was used to take Barton’s livelihood away.
“It was heartbreaking. I was sad, I was angry, I was confused, I was frustrated,” Barton said. “I kept my professional life and my personal life very separate. I never talked about my sexuality at work.”
In an email to Rocky Mountain PBS, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese said same-sex attraction in itself is not a cause for termination, but a homosexual relationship violates a contract all school employees are required to sign.
[Related: Press release from the Archdiocese of Denver on Barton's employment decision]
“An employee who violates any of the terms of their employment agreement knows from the outset of their work that they can’t remain employed at the school,” the spokeswoman wrote. “While not every family may choose Catholic schools for the same reason, the fact is that many families do send their children to our schools expecting their children to receive an education that conforms to Catholic beliefs.”
Caught between two worlds
Other LGBTQ+ religious leaders in Colorado said Barton’s situation is all too common: forced to choose between sharing the same love their heterosexual counterparts get and keeping employment or status in a religion they otherwise love.
“So much of the time, we’re told that you can be queer or Christian but you can’t be queer and Christian,” said Nicole Garcia, the reverend at Christ the Servant Lutheran Church in Louisville, Colo. and faith director at the National LGBTQ Task Force. “It’s causing so much pain and angst and fear within the LGBTQ community, I feel compelled to speak out and speak up for those who feel silenced.”
[Related: A Latina, transgender pastor searches for hope after Club Q attack]
Garcia is a Latina, transgender woman who believes her faith and gender work together under the same umbrella of love and acceptance, principles she believes are paramount to Jesus Christ’s teachings.
“I’m just so appalled and heartbroken that people have to live a lie in order to keep a job,” Garcia said. “[Barton] tried very hard to hide her relationship, which is damaging to mental health, when you’re pretending to be something you're not.”
Denver’s archbishop has earned a conservative reputation among other faith leaders, Garcia said. While she wasn’t surprised by Barton’s firing, she believes the decision was “abhorrent.”
“I don’t think any of us are surprised at the actions that were taken, but we are appalled that these actions are still being done in this day in age,” Garcia said. “The church has no business judging people on how they live their lives if they’re trying to live a life of peace and justice and fulfillment.”
Mallory Everhart, a reverend at Vista Grande Community Church in Colorado Springs, Colo. said homophobia and transphobia are infiltrated in far too many churches, but Christianity’s roots are far from discrimination.
[Related: A Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony takes on added significance after Club Q shooting]
“Christianity, as a whole, in the beginning, was about welcoming the outsider and loving the untouchable,” Everhart said. “I don’t want to be anywhere where people I love are not welcome.”
Everhart is bisexual and runs what she considers one of the most progressive churches in Colorado Springs. Everhart said she frequently gets hate mail because of the rainbow and Black Lives Matter flags hanging outside the church.
“Jesus preached about humility and being in community with one another,” Everhart said. “Throughout history, we’ve seen Christianity flip from being about Jesus’ teachings to being this weird, exclusive place.”
Limited options
Because so many Christian organizations do not support LGBTQ+ people, queer pastors said they’re burdened with being extra selective in choosing employment, as the wrong fit could lead to safety issues.
“It’s just a continual battle that people in the LGBTQ community have to endure, that we have to structure our lives to such a degree just to be safe and thrive in our careers and otherwise,” said Ben Mann, pastor at Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ in Englewood, Colo. “It’s just enraging. It’s just a constant experience.”
Mann is nonbinary and said while they are lucky to work in a church that accepts them, it took a long time to find an affirming environment.
“I often thought, prior to realizing I should do church-based work, that I shouldn’t even bother, that there wouldn’t be the right types of opportunities for me,” Mann said.
Why stay?
After a lifetime of dealing with scrutiny for their unchangeable identities, LGBTQ+ pastors said they’ve been brought to the brink of calling it quits for another profession.
They stay because often, their core beliefs and positive memories outweigh the vitriol.
“It’s what's familiar to me. I’ve found a lot of comfort in that environment growing up. And even after I came out, I felt very supported,” Barton said. “I wanted to be a person that could give future students the same opportunities and experiences that I have had.”
Barton attended Catholic schools all her life. While she always recognized homophobia’s presence, the extreme disdain feels foreign to her.
“Coming off of all the pope’s recent comments and the church’s outdated doctrine about acting on same-sex attraction, in the world we live in now, it’s so crazy that this is happening,” Barton said. “When you’ve known something for your whole life and you’ve found a lot of positivity to it, it’s hard to walk away.”
Barton believes she can be an asset to another school but she loved All Souls. If it were up to the school itself, Barton hopes her employment would not have been threatened.
“I think the issue lies within the archdiocese, which is historically an ultra-conservative archdiocese,” Barton said. “The level of change that needs to happen is so much higher than the school itself.”
Alison Berg is a multimedia journalist at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at alisonberg@rmpbs.org.