This teacher was just sacked for being gay
A teacher has been sacked for being gay.
Craig Campbell was removed from his job at South Coast Baptist College in Western Australia after students found a Facebook photo which drew attention to his sexuality.
He reacted to this by telling authorities at the school – where he had been teaching for three years – that he was gay.
After several weeks of being in the dark, he was removed from the school’s list of substitute teachers.
Des Mitchell, the school’s principal, did not hide the reason for Campbell’s firing, airing his position on TV.
“At present, for us, we choose not to employ someone who’s openly gay,” he told 7 News Perth.
Campbell, who was a student at the college and attends its church, said that after the Facebook picture was discovered, he was harangued by pupils.
‘We went to my aunt’s wedding, and there were three kids from my school in the back of the room,” he told OUTInPerth.
“It got to this point where I was like, ‘I can’t hide this anymore.’”
Campbell also remembered how hard it was to hide his sexuality at the school.
“I could see there were a number of kids who were struggling with it as well,” he said, “and I’m sure their experience is just like it was for me.”
So he decided to inform his department head that he was gay, and that his partner was a man.
“I told them I was in a relationship, and obviously this is something that I believe is fine from both a moral and a theological standpoint,” Campbell said.
Weeks later, his colleagues let him know that he’d been taken off the list of supply teachers.
Even later than that, the principal said he should have been told he was fired – just earlier.
Mitchell regretted not letting him know before his fellow teachers told him, according to OUTInPerth.
