The teacher was fired when the school learnt she was gay. They highlighted that during her dismissal hearing. They also wanted her to teach one more class to her students so that they don’t get blowback for discriminating her.
Monica Toro Lisciandro, a female teacher at a private Christian school was fired for being gay. The school accused her of being in a relationship with a woman, attending pride parties and holding homosexual activities at her studios.
The teacher narrated how these line of questioning and reasoning made her uncomfortable. She said,
I thought, OK, we have a Rainbow Project at the studio that’s for kids looking for a safe space, and for volunteering in the community. That’s what they meant by homosexual activities. It was very much like I was dirty, I was bad.
She continued narrating that she admitted that she was gay and explained about the alleged homosexual activities in her studio. The school, however, was having none of it insisting they do not employ gay academic staff in their schools.
Lack of protection for the gay community
Then the school administration started narrating to her how being gay was a sin. They also stated that they do not allow staff members who have cheated or cheating in a relationship as part of their community.
Lisciandro said that her dismissal highlighted the lack of workplace protection in Florida for LGBTQ community. She argued that this should not be happening in this day and age and considered this discrimination hurtful. only 21 states protect LGBTQ community according to Human Rights Campaign.
She also highlighted that there were no mechanisms she would use to fight her unlawful dismissal in the state. There were no laws or paths that could be used to reinstate her as the drama teacher of the school she was fired from.
Lisciandro also noted the hypocrisy of the school once they told her that they would fire her, they told her that she could teach one more class. They explained that they wanted her to pass the mantle to the next teacher so that students do not have to wonder what happened to her. Any mentions of why she was fired, however, should not be stated.
The school wanted to come out clean after this discrimination. They were not willing to take the blowback of their actions as they felt that their religious beliefs justified them to discriminate against people they felt as sinners.
