Ireland’s Catholic schools can no longer discriminate against LGBT teachers

Ireland has passed a bill that will make it illegal for religious-based schools to discriminate against gay teachers, and the Catholic church runs the majority of schools in the country.

Although same-sex marriage was legalized by a landslide popular vote in May, LGBT teachers in Ireland have cataloged negative experiences working in Catholic schools, ranging from administrative warnings to keep relationships private to denied promotions to living in secret.

The Equality Bill 2013 had already passed through the upper house of the Irish government and will now go to President Michael D. Higgins for signing.

The same cannot be said for educators in the U.S. Teachers at Catholic schools in Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Washington, and California — the list goes on — have been fired or denied positions because of their sexual orientation. Employment discrimination laws vary across the nation, but religious exemptions allow administrations to fire a teacher because of sexual orientation or gender identity.

via Yahoo! News