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A teacher from All Souls Catholic School in Colorado was fired on January 25, 2023, after the school discovered that she was in a relationship with another woman. The entire fiasco happened after the school found a picture of the teacher, Maggie Barton, kissing her girlfriend.
Authorities claimed that all the teachers of the All Souls Catholic School needed to sign a contract that assured that they would live in conformity with the Catholic Church's beliefs.
Maggie Barton was a technology and media teacher at All Souls Catholic School. She also coached basketball at the school for six years, and taught all the grades from kindergarten to eighth grade.
Mother of an All Souls Catholic School student create GoFundMe for Maggie Barton after she was fired
After Barton was fired from her job as a teacher at All Souls Catholic School, a student's parent, Kathy Weisbrod, created a GoFundMe page for the former. The page, which has raised $25,240 as of writing this article, is to help Maggie meet her ends.
The GoFundMe page's description says that it was set up by a parent who knew many others wanted to help the teacher and show her their support. It added that the parents wanted to support Maggie in a way that the finances don't cause her any stress and noted:
“We're hoping to help bridge the gap till Ms. Barton finds the next step in her career.”
Maggie Barton, who was fired from the All Souls Catholic School, also gave an interview to Colorado Public Radio.
In the interview, she spoke about how she openly lived as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and said that it was difficult for her to figure out navigating what her faith looks like due to the incident. She also talked about coming out to her parents back in 2017, when she was in her freshman year at St. Edward's University in Austin.
During the interview, she narrated the incident from January 25, 2023, which left her in shock. She said that she received a call from the All Souls Catholic School principal saying the Archdiocese of Denver had obtained a photo of Barton and another woman kissing.
She stated that the principal told her that she would be given paid leave as an “investigation” would be conducted on the matter. However, the next day, she was fired. However, Kelly Clark, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese, claimed that the entire thing is “inaccurate."
She confirmed that Maggie was no longer a teacher with the All Souls Catholic School but denied giving any further information. The Denver Archdiocese said in its statement that the school knew about Maggie being in a same-sex relationship.
The statement added that they learned that Maggie intended to "persist in violating the standards she previously agreed to uphold." It continued to say that any employee who violated any of the terms of their employment agreement was aware that they wouldn't be employed at the school.
Meanwhile, Maggie Barton believes that the message being spread by the school by firing a teacher who belongs to the LGBTQ+ community is wrong, and of intolerance.
