Eastside Catholic students rally behind ousted vice principal

In the past couple of days, Eastside Catholic High School has been getting a lot of attention over an incident that has occured with their vice principal. Today was Mark Zmuda's last day at the school as vice principle and swim couch, after being fired for marrying his partner this summer. Students from the school and surrounding schools participated in a sit in and protests over the incident and a petition has started over the incident, calling on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Archdiocese of Seattle to change their positions on same sex marriage.

After spending the semester working on religious denominational stances on homosexuality, I can tell you that the petition is asking for a lot but I still signed it in support not only for Mr. Zmuda but for the queer students, faculty, and staff at Catholic schools across the country. I also signed it for myself because of my experiences at the University of Portland. You've all heard my story. You all know about my anxiety and depression because of constantly hearing that part of my identity was objectively disordered and sinful. (And for me, behavior and identity in this context cannot  be removed from one another. Who I love (behavior) is an essential part of my identity. I've heard friends being compared to murders because they're gay, being called disgusting, being afraid to use public restrooms because of their gender identity. And a lot of this happens with no ramifications for those who said these horrible things.

The students at Eastside and other schools have shown what the school and Archdiocese hasn't: that queer people matter. That we deserve to be loved and loved in return. That we deserve a space in religion and faith.

So to the students at Eastside Catholic and surrounding schools, thank you for being incredibly courageous.

If you'd like to sign the petition, it can be found here.
More information can be found below as well:

• Eastside Catholic students rally around ousted vice principle - Seattle Times
• Catholic students protest gay vice principal's resignation - King5
• Photos: Eastside Catholic protest over gay teacher confrontation - KiroTV
• RAW VIDEO: gay teacher dismissed from Eastside Catholic addresses students - KiroTV

Make to sure to follow #keepmrz2013 and @keepmrz2013 on Twitter for updates!