Was Tom Klansnic Fired because He's Gay?

One of my favorite teachers in elementary school was Mr. Ferris; I was gay, of course, though I had no idea what that meant at the time, but I liked the way he dressed, and he had nice hair, so he was one of my first school crushes. Now, I don’t know if Mr. Ferris was gay, or not, though I do know he wasn’t married and someone that good-looking, well, even a young don’t-really-know-what-gay-is mind had an idea what that meant. But he was a good teacher, and, even back in the Dark Ages, wasn’t that all that mattered?

Well, apparently doing your job isn’t good enough for the Gresham Barlow School District; not if you’re gay. See, out there in Oregon, Tom Klansnic worked in the Gresham Barlow School District for some ten years, most recently as principal of North Gresham Elementary School. About three years ago, Klansnic divorced his wife and slowly came out as gay to friends, family, and his employers.

He was recently told his contract with the district would not be renewed, with explanation as to why, and many parents in the district think it’s because he’s gay.

Denise McCloud, one of those parents, is standing up for Klansnic to find out why his contract is not being renewed. She’s leading a group of parents to attend Thursday night’s district board meeting to find answers: “You know that’s what we’re trying to teach them. That we all stand up together. That we all need to be looking out for each other. That we have each other’s back.”

Klansnic’s attorney, Judy Snyder, says his relationship with school supervisors changed dramatically after the disclosure that he is gay: "He's been a very successful principal and he's continued to be a very successful principal even under close scrutiny of the last two years. He's had a great deal of difficulty getting specifics as to what he has failed to do to meet performance expectations."

Snyder says Klansnic may sue the school district for discrimination and retaliation, and I say go for it. If the district—and, by the way, school district officials are not commenting—decided not to renew the contract of a principal who has been doing his job very well, and can give no reason for the non-renewal, it certainly looks like discrimination.

And that’s why we need LGBT anti-discrimination protections everywhere.

If Tom Klansnic wasn’t doing his job to the degree with which his employers expected him to, then they have the right to let him go, but if any part of the reasons, or reasons, for his dismissal, had to do with his sexual orientation, then they need to be held accountable.

It makes me wonder, though, about those Dark Ages, when I was a wee not-yet-aware queerling, what if Mr. Ferris’ sexual orientation had become known? Would he have been fired from teaching? Would any parents have taken the time to stand up for him?

I’d kind of hoped we’d come further than that.

UPDATE:

Late last night I received an email from Denise McCloud, one of those parents who feels Tom was wrongly terminated simply for being gay, and she asked me to pots the link to a petition to give Tom back his job at Change.org.

So, I'd like to ask you all to go HERE and sign the petition.

This isn't what we should be doing in this country, firing teachers and educators for being gay. We don't do this.

So take a second and go HERE and add your name to the list of people who think Tom Klansnic deserves to keep his job.

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