An Orthodox Talmud Teacher at a very progressive Modern Orthodox school (let's leave the name out of the discussion) wanted to come out as gay. It is not clear in the article whether this meant tell this to her students, tell the parent body or simply live and have the news trickle back (as we know it will within our close knit communities). Per the article, the school said they could not support this and that if parents were to call up to ask students to switch classes, they would honor that request. She was also potentially at risk of losing her job.
Here are my questions: Was the school right in their response? If not, what could they (and we, should we be in this situation) have done differently? Does it make a difference that this woman is meant to serve as a Dugma Ishit (role model) to Orthodox young women since she is teaching Judaic Studies - what if she had been teaching chemistry- would the response have been the same or different? Does it make a difference that she wishes to do this in a high school environment vs. an elementary/ college one?
Let's be clear that there are additional layers of complexity as she is a woman rather than a man so the implications within halakha (as understood by the Orthodox community) should she be living with a partner are different as well.
I am curious for respectful discussion on this.
Link to the article: [
forward.com]
