The fight over religious freedom and same-sex marriage has come to Portland. St. Mary's Academy, an all-girls Catholic prep school in downtown Portland, came under fire Tuesday when it was revealed the school rescinded an offer of employment over same-sex marriage.
Lauren Brown, 27, had been hired by the school back in April to be a college counselor, according to the Willamette Week's Aaron Mesh, but withdrew its offer of employment to Brown after she revealed she was in a relationship with another woman and brought up the issue of marriage.
"In July, she told officials at St. Mary’s that she is gay, that she has a girlfriend, and asked them hypothetically what would happen if she got married," Mesh told OPB's All Things Considered Host Kate Davidson on Wednesday. "Would she be allowed to bring her girlfriend, or future wife, to events at the school?"
Mesh said the school reacted quickly to what they called an "impending same-sex marriage."
The school pulled the offer to Brown because of what St. Mary's President Christina Friedhoff referred to as "a conflict with current Catholic teachings regarding same-sex marriage."
According to Mesh, the school then tried to convince Brown to sign a non-disclosure agreement in return for one year's salary and benefits. But Brown said she wasn't planning to marry her girlfriend and that she made it very clear to school officials that she was speaking hypothetically, Mesh said.
Reaction to the school's decision has sparked debate from around the city about the legality of the school's move. Portland Archbishop Alexander Sample issued a statement lending support to the academy:
"We expect that given certain reassurances by the federal government in the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling making 'same-sex unions' the law of the land, our religious liberty would be protected in this case as well as any future cases of this sort."