Carla Hale was fired from Bishop Watterson High School in Columbus, Ohio because an anonymous parent complained when she named her same-sex partner in her mother’s obituary. She’s now fighting the Catholic school to get her job of 19 years back, and students are rallying around her — as is Anonymous. The school did not previously comment on the firing, but now Bishop Frederick Campbell is defending the firing because Hale’s “quasi-spousal relationship” — not her sexual orientation — violates the Church’s moral teaching:

In an exclusive interview with The Dispatch, the bishop said diocesan officials “don’t necessarily go looking for things like that,” but Hale’s decision to name her partner in her mother’s obituary made the relationship public and initiated the termination process.

As bishop, he said, he has a “fundamental responsibility” to maintain the Catholic identity of the institutions under his purview.

“We do this in an atmosphere of care, of calm consideration, but yet out of the realization that at particular times we have to make particular decisions,” he said. “And they are difficult sometimes, but they do flow from what we believe, who we are and how we are to live.” [...]

“I have to make certain that what I say is accurate and measured because I don’t want to add to the heat of this,” he said yesterday. “People want bold statements right away, and I have to make sure I understand what the question is, how it can be answered and how to do it in a measured way.”

No “measured” approach or “calm consideration” changes the fact that Hale was fired for being gay. Campbell’s claim that she was fired for her relationship is a distinction without a difference. It may take several months for Community Relations Commission to address her complaint, but Columbus’s nondiscrimination protections do not exempt religious organizations. Campbell has admitted that the school fired Hale for living with a woman, and that is a clear violation of the law.

Carla Hale (Photo Credit: Brooke LaValley, Columbus Dispatch)

When Carla Hale was fired from Bishop Watterson High School in Columbus Ohio because she’s gay after working there for 19 years, students were quick to rally to her cause. A Change.org petition calling on the Catholic high school to reinstate her already has over 11,000 signatures. And now, Hale has come forward to tell her own story. When her mother died in March, she included her partner’s name in her obituary, and apparently an anonymous parent thought that was sufficient reason to complain to the Diocese of Columbus. Hale told the Colmbus Dispatch that the school then fired her a week later:

HALE: If it were not for an obituary that appeared in the paper, none of this would be happening… She asked me if I really wanted to put her name in there — in the obituary — but as we sat there that day — my mom really loved Julie and Julie  loved my my mom and as I sat there with my brother, you know, it was like… his wife was mentioned, my niece’s husband was mentioned, so why not? Why not my person I love?

Watch it:

This is hardly the first time the Catholic Church has punished employees simply for being gay. Last year, a music teacher in Missouri and a music director in North Carolina were fired for planning weddings with their same-sex partners. Many more such incidents likely go unreported. The Church refused to comment because it is a personnel matter.

The city of Columbus has nondiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation with no exemptions for religious organizations, and the Columbus Dispatch argues that she would have a viable case if she filed a complaint.

A new Saperstein Poll for the Columbus Dispatch shows that a majority of Ohio voters support a proposed constitutional amendment to repeal the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Though 62 percent voted for the 2004 ban, 54 percent now say they’re ready to repeal it. Only 40 percent oppose the proposal.

These results come just as numerous Ohio lawmakers have spoken out on the issue. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) expressed his support for marriage equality two weeks ago, explaining that he came to support the issue after his son came out to him. In response, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) countered that even having a gay son would not change his opposition to same-sex marriage. Last Thursday, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) briefly offered his support for civil unions before his office walked back the statement.

An October poll similarly found that 52 percent of Ohio voters support marriage equality. According to the crosstabs, support was highest among women, young people, and independents:

An Ohio appeals court ruled that a lesbian mom who had previously been granted access to the daughter she and her former partner had are now void. Their reasoning: her former partner who was the biological mom is now married to a man who has adopted the child and, due to a 2004 state constitutional amendment, the non-biological parents is legally a “non-relative.”

Pink News reports that a lower court ruled previously that Maggie Gross was entitled to access the seven-year-old biological daughter of her former partner, Jennifer Herrick. But the Franklin County Court of Appeals overturned that ruling, determining that because Herrick’s new husband adopted the child, all previous relationships are now null and void. The court said, according to the report, “because the adoption is meant to provide a new family for the child, it in effect severs: ‘legal relationships with non-relatives, such as [Ms Gross], who attempt to base their claims on relationships in existence prior to the adoption.’”

Gross told the Columbus Dispatch that this ruling essentially erases half of her daughter’s life.

“They’re saying that half of all this never happened, that half of her life didn’t exist,” Gross said of the 7-year-old girl, who was almost 3 when Gross and Herrick ended their relationship in 2008. “That defies logic.”

While this ruling may be a correct application of Ohio law, it illustrates the harm the state’s anti-LGBT constitutional amendment does to same-sex families. An opposite sex-couple would never be in this situation. Because the state treated Gross and Herrick as legally unrelated, this seven year old will no longer be able to regularly see one of her parents, who is now legally a “non-relative” because of Ohio’s discriminatory law.

A repeal effort may be on the ballot in Ohio as soon as November 2013.