INTO CONFERENCE:GAY AND lesbian teachers could be dismissed if their lifestyle is seen as undermining the religious ethos of schools, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO)conference was told yesterday.
Sheila Crowley, who chairs INTO's Lesbian Gay and Bisexual (LGB) teachers' group, said Section 37 of the Employment Equality Acts permits schools that promote certain religious values to take "necessary action to prevent an employee from undermining the religious ethos of the institution".
"We feel that if we live openly as LGB teachers in schools under denominational management, then this could be construed as undermining the religious ethos of an institution and could lead to our subsequent dismissal," she said.
Founded four years ago, the LGB group, which has 35 members, is campaigning for the abolition of this section of the Act.
The INTO is the first teaching union in Ireland to establish, fully support and endorse an LGB teachers' group. Ms Crowley said Section 37 "casts a long shadow that if we are out in school as gay teachers, then the possibility of dismissal might become a reality".
"Many of our group cannot afford to take this risk and be open in school about our sexuality.
"At the moment, there are over 35 of us in the group, yet only six of us who are in a position to be open about being an LGB teacher."
Ms Crowley told the conference that gay and lesbian teachers faced "isolation, alienation, harassment, discrimination and downright bigotry" on a regular basis.
Daily life in school for these teachers was characterised by the twin hallmarks of invisibility and silence, she said.
"I have been teaching for over 30 years in seven different schools all under denominational management. For 24 of these years I have been living with my partner, a woman.
"However, my life as a lesbian teacher has been covered by a cloak of invisibility to colleagues and pupils," she said.
What hope was there for young teachers to break this disempowering silence if "those of us who have been teaching for well over 30 years cannot feel free to be open about being gay or lesbian in staff rooms and classrooms?" Ms Crowley asked.
"Silence is not neutral and it can - and often does - mask homophobia."
She said that for many of the LGB group, school was not a safe place to be open about who they were.
"If we are open, then the conduct of our fellow professional teaching colleagues can sometimes have unpleasant consequences."
Ms Crowley gave some examples including: a teacher who lost out on promotion because of her sexual orientation; homophobic comments being made constantly in the presence of the LGB teacher and other staff members; and a staff representative removing LGB leaflets from each teacher's union magazine as he considered it inappropriate.
The LGB group in the union has an e-mail address, a dedicated telephone line and a link on the organisation's website that provides an initial contact for those wishing to join.
