Lisa Howe Speaks: Belmont Soccer Coach Fired For Being Gay? (VIDEO)

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Until last month, Lisa Howe was a beloved soccer coach at Belmont University in Tennessee. But after she told her team that she and her partner of eight years, Wendy Holleman, were expecting a baby, she lost her job.

In an interview with ESPN, Howe said she was not at liberty to speak about her firing.

But one student said that school administrators told Howe that her "morals and values conflicted with the Belmont's mission statement" and that "she could no longer be an employee at the university."

Belmont initially said that Howe resigned, though it later backpedaled, saying that the school and Howe had reached a "mutual agreement." Howe declined to comment on the agreement.

One week later, Belmont President Bob Fisher said "sexual orientation has not been considered in making hiring promotion salary or dismissal decisions" in his ten years at the school, though he did not comment on Howe's case.

On Friday, the Belmont faculty senate passed resolutions to include nondiscrimination policies in school-specific literature.

WATCH:

Comments

[Richard Horvath]

11:36 AM on 12/22/2010

There will always be plenty of uneducated people to go around. How they get into a position of authority will always be a mystery.

[Pansey]

12:12 AM on 12/22/2010

The "good" that will come out of this situation is:
#1 she was beloved by the students-many of those students come from intolerant parents/backgrounds.
#2 the students will recognize that this is pure bigotry/discrimination-they're learning that tolerance/acceptance is the high road.

[shastaman]

12:01 PM on 12/21/2010

Skidmore College is looking for a new Wimens coach!
That is a considerably " tolerant " community

[Georgia Yankee]

02:48 PM on 12/21/2010

Do you think a teacher in a lesbian, athiest college would have any chance if she were straight and religious? I guess it all depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is.

[soisay]

01:25 AM on 12/26/2010

An atheist lesbian college? You spend too much time visiting high-bandwidth internet sites. Sounds like a wet dream since 10 years old or so.

[PeterMelzer]

10:05 AM on 12/21/2010

I know Belmont a bit. It is a school in transformation. Among the first questions a job applicant was asked in the online application not long ago, was whether we had served (unspecified as what) and whether we were Christian (unspecified what kind and how to prove it). Alas, a couple of years ago the Baptist ministers left the Board of Trust after a handsome payment.

Over the last decade, Belmont has developed a highly reputed music business program which is arguably one of a kind, and the school is constantly adding new undergraduate and professional programs (pharmacy, nursing, business and law). It clearly is a place undergoing profound changes in brick and mortar as well as in its mission. This crisis is a result of the school's growing pains. I feel for the coach who lost her job over this non-issue. The school has great potential. Obviously, there is work to be done.

[GodBlessAmerica]

11:59 AM on 12/21/2010

You may have guessed it or assumed it already, but "whether we had served" refers to military service in any of the 5 branches.

[PeterMelzer]

12:33 PM on 12/21/2010

Since I served, I jumped to that conclusion. But in hindsight it occurred to me that they could have meant some missionary activity as well.

[msgirlintn]

10:34 PM on 12/24/2010

Peter,
 
This isn't a "non-issue".  If you think that, then you disagree with Mike Curb whose name is on that music business program you think is so great.

[PeterMelzer]

01:03 PM on 12/25/2010

Having a baby is a private decision and should not have any bearing on the judgment of someone's professional performance.

[JtownesquireAgain]

09:36 AM on 12/21/2010

Private, Christian school. Why shouldn't they be permitted to hire and fire based on what they believe is or is not representative of their beliefs and the values they wish to present to the students at their school? you want to be openly gay, don't do it at a Christian school that makes it clear it is of the Anti-Gay Christian Sect. Get a job at a public school...then you can be as openly gay as you'd like. Heck, you'd probably get promoted sooner and have even less chance of losing your job. When will people accept that you can't force others to believe the same as you or act the same as you and that sometimes you just have to move on?!

[onlyinvegas]

09:58 AM on 12/21/2010

thats is why there are laws to protect people from ignorance like this. Put it on the other foot. What if you were employed by a company and they found out you were Christian, regardless of how good you did your job you were fired simply because you were religious. Your statement is founded in hate and not in fact. Time for you to move on and GROW up. You don't have to invite them to dinner but you shouldn't deny them there right to work. Although if you did have them over for dinner you my be a little more enlightened about your fellow human being. which is something we all could strive to be better at.

[Jericho the Red]

10:11 AM on 12/21/2010

nicely put..

also, does the School receive any federal funding?

[Ricanmorenax5]

10:33 AM on 12/21/2010

I disagree with you. Dont get me wrong, Im all about equalitiy, but this is a private school based on a belief system. People pay to go to that school because they want to feel at home knowing that the teachers there will teach and uphold the same beliefs that you have. Having teachers that do not share ( and sort of oppose it) is not okay. If she was in the public school system, I would be very upset by this, but I think she set her self up for this one.

[Cristancho]

09:20 AM on 12/21/2010

Outrageous. After a lifetime of exposure growing up in the Bible Belt, I've come to the conclusion that the modern Christian institution is a far from being in touch with the teachings of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount as can be.

[onlyinvegas]

10:02 AM on 12/21/2010

These school are no different than the Madrases schools in the middle east. Yet like those schools they preach hate and twist and pervert what should be teachings of understanding and love.

[HappyBalance]

09:02 AM on 12/21/2010

Sad, very sad.

[Howard53545]

05:10 AM on 12/21/2010

Get your check books ready now.

[Samuel Nnadi]

04:33 AM on 12/21/2010

This is a clear evidence of job discrimination. Equal employment opportunity commission must stop Belmont University administration from breaking the law. Being a private University does do not exempt from breaking federal law. Some Americans may not believe in gays and lesbians but we must obey American laws.

[MrBiggs]

06:41 AM on 12/21/2010

I would argue that a so called private "christian" college would be able to fire an employee who doesn't fit their "values". These administrators would equate being gay with not believing in the bible and therefore contrary to the schools mission. The same if they found out that a professor or coach was an atheist. This is not my personal believes but just playing devils advocate...

[edgySF]

08:20 AM on 12/21/2010

Please do not let some Christians define Christianity as being anti-gay. Jesus said nothing of homosexuality, and a lot about love & not judging others.

[Sean 6399]

10:45 AM on 12/21/2010

The equal emplyment opportunity commission should be chained to a truck and dragged to death.

[Sans Octavian]

03:37 AM on 12/21/2010

Of all the sports, one would think that soccer would be the most accepting of a homosexual coach.

[ben616]

04:30 AM on 12/21/2010

I always thought it was strange that football seemed way more "richard simmons" but soccer was always saddled with that reputation.

[Georgia Yankee]

03:32 PM on 12/21/2010

Coming from a reliable source, my daughter who has played soccer all through college, told me womans softball is the sport you should be referring to.

[Bob Kellerman]

02:28 AM on 12/21/2010

MY GUESS............

Some big contributor called them and said she was promoting "the Gay Agenda" by telling students about her partner having their baby. Money runs colleges, even Christian ones.

MUTUAL AGREEMENT means....

They wanted rid of the dXke, but agreed not to say she was fired and provided severance

[superjules]

04:24 AM on 12/21/2010

Excuse me, knob.. I mean bob.. that word you used that rhymes with bike? You should not use that word. Nor should use xtian, I don't think you know what the definition of the word is.

[kevb19]

07:31 AM on 12/21/2010

why shouldnt he say dike? were not 4th graders around here stop giving so much power to words.

[Lemmy]

02:22 PM on 12/21/2010

Stop being so PC.

[Clay Rehmus]

12:45 AM on 12/21/2010

"We didn't fire her because she is gay, even though that's totally the reason why we did it."

[Sean 6399]

12:37 AM on 12/21/2010

So it's illegal to fire gay people in America?

[Clay Rehmus]

12:46 AM on 12/21/2010

If the reason why you fired them was because of their sexual orientation, then yes.

[Sean 6399]

12:53 AM on 12/21/2010

So if you fire an employee, you have to make up some explanation that is an acceptable reason to fire, according to a peanut gallery of uninvolved observers?

How enlightened.

[Jericho the Red]

10:15 AM on 12/21/2010

is it Illeagal to fire someone for their religious affiliation? No- because it is against the law.. those same laws protect gays as well

[Sean 6399]

10:42 AM on 12/21/2010

This employment discrimination junk, is junk.

Is it illegal for Hooters to fire fat waitresses? Is it illegal for a gay cruise line to fire a homophobe? Is it illegal for a baptist church to fire a wiccan? Really? You better check again.

These discrimination laws only exist for those "special" people, that manage to convince fools that they are deserving of extra unlawful protections. It's a bunch of liberty and justice trampling garbage.

Employment is a voluntary exchange between two parties, just like any other economic transaction under the sun. A just society can not tell a person how they must spend their property. I'm sure you can understand that the state has no legitimate authority to demand that you purchase a particular brand of soda pop. Why are you unable to understand that the state likewise has no legitimate authority to demand that an employer purchase the time and skills of any particular person? You don't need to justify your choice of soda pop to anyone. It's your money being spent to buy what YOU want. Employment, by rights, should be exactly the same.

[GodBlessAmerica]

12:09 PM on 12/21/2010

That's not clear, Jericho, that they have the same protection as religious affiliation.

[fishin4u]

12:17 AM on 12/21/2010

Why is it so important for all of America to know that someone is gay ? ?
Simply do not grasp this mindset.
What consenting adults do in their private lives is there own business.
Baffled by this concept of "hear me, all who can hear" ..............

FISH............

[antaeus]

12:49 AM on 12/21/2010

Simply telling a colleague that you and your partner had a child doesn't constitute a proclamation of personal secrets.

I'm baffled by those who don't grasp this.

[Bob Kellerman]

02:28 AM on 12/21/2010

She told STUDENTS-- at a Christian school

It's OK to be Gay if you don't "shove it in their face as if it was equal and not a sin"

[Karl Richard]

11:45 PM on 12/20/2010

Maybe she was fired for incompetence? Just because you're gay, doesn't mean you can't be incompetent.

[msgirlintn]

11:46 PM on 12/20/2010

Karl Richard,
 
She won 5 championships in the last 5 years.

[Karl Richard]

12:00 AM on 12/21/2010

I got nothing then. lol