Court Defends Catholic School’s Decision to Fire Counselor For Defending Marriage
A Christian Counselor who was fired from her job at a Catholic school suffered a major setback after a court tribunal ruled that the school was justified in firing her for her social media posts defending biblical marriage and for suggesting that wives should submit to their husbands, saying that her social media feed “Only celebrated the nuclear family, which could make other students from different backgrounds feel devalued.”
Gozen Soydag runs the Wife in The Waiting Academy, which is described as “a God-centred ministry that encourages, empowers and equips women, who desire to be married, to position in purpose, dedicated specifically to celebrating the institution of marriage and the traditional nuclear family, and where she posts things like this:
Last February, she was fired from St Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls in England for posting “misogynistic” content such as the aforementioned posts on her Instagram, and for quoting Ephesians 5:22-23, which reads, “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
The school, whose Mission Statement& Ethos specifically states that they are “conducted as a Catholic school in accordance with the Canon Law and the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, and in accordance with the Trust Deed of the Archdiocese of Westminster” and that “Catholic values and worship are at the heart of our school,” terminated her employment nonetheless, prompting her to file suit.
Soydag argued that she was a victim of “wrongful dismissal, harassment, discrimination and breaches of her human rights on the grounds of her Christian beliefs,” but the court disagreed. A press release by the CLC explains:
During proceedings, the assistant headteacher at the school, Jo Saunders, was asked if Gozen’s free speech had been curtailed. In response, the assistant head said: ‘We did not curtail her free speech, we just said that she had to take down her posts.’
Gozen’s traditional beliefs on Christian marriage were also compared by Jo Saunders to social media personality, Andrew Tate and deemed ‘incompatible in modern society.’
Handing down judgment, Employment Judge Sarah Matthews, dismissed each of Miss Soydag’s claims and said her posts had: “Only celebrated the nuclear family, which could make other students from different backgrounds feel devalued.”
So far, there has been no comment or condemnation from Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, which oversees St. Anne’s, of either the school’s decision to fire Soydag in the first place or the court’s ruling. Responding to the ruling, Soydag said:
“I am devastated and confused by the ruling and am determined to appeal and continue to fight for justice. I wanted to work in the education sector and make an impact for young people. This was a Catholic school, and they knew I was a passionate woman of faith. The school’s building is in the shape of the Cross. Every classroom had a Cross and Bible verses on the walls. This was a place where I believed they accepted Jesus.
My social media channels were about sharing hope through the Word of God, especially for women…I stand for the nuclear marriage and God’s blueprint for marriage. I’m not against anyone, I am for God’s blueprint for the family and believe children do best in a nuclear family.
I want to continue to speak up because traditional Christian marriage in this country is being broken, trampled on, and even marginalised, and what has happened to me really highlights that…I believe if this had been anyone else with a belief as part of the ‘inclusive’ culture, I would not be sitting here, I would have been celebrated and promoted. For discussing and debating traditional Christian marriage and family, I was sacked, and that cannot be right.”
Soydag will now appeal this decision to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Andrea Williams, the chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre blasted the decision by the court, noting:
The judge’s ruling sends a message that Christian beliefs on marriage are now barred from our schools. Every type of relationship and family must be celebrated, but if you celebrate and promote the traditional family on social media you do so at risk of dismissal.
This is another example of schools, which on the surface have a strong Christian ethos, panicking and capitulating to secular orthodoxy and the ‘offence’ of Christian marriage. The judgment manipulates the facts and evidence to construct a conclusion to suit its ends. The whole exercise becomes one of legal fiction which we intend to overturn through the appeal system.”
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I doubt it was just over one tweet. She is not British and probably took it too far in person due to her middle eastern background. Brittain should deport her back to the middle east where she came from.