Ohio teacher quits in protest over controversial Catholic contract detailing banned behavior
5/10/2014CINCINNATI — A veteran Catholic school teacher in Cincinnati whose son is gay is quitting in protest of a new controversial contract specifying violations of church doctrine.
Molly Shumate is the first known teacher of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s more than 2,200 educators to refuse to sign the new contract.
Violations of the contract include public support of “homosexual lifestyles,” abortion and artificial insemination
The 49-year-old Shumate, who lives in West Chester near Cincinnati, tells The Cincinnati Enquirer that her son is gay and that signing the contract would conflict with supporting him.
Archdiocese officials defend the contract and say it doesn’t mean that teachers have to sever relationships with gay family members, just that they can’t publicly act or speak against the church’s teachings.