Benedictine educator: I lost my job because of lesbian wedding announcement

Springfield, Ill. - Laine Tadlock, a lesbian educator at Benedictine University, said she lost her job not because she was a lesbian -- but because she ran an announcement in the paper about being legally married in Iowa.

Tadlock and her partner, Kae Helstrom, got married last summer in Iowa. The wedding announcement in the Springfield Journal-Register included the fact that Tadlock was the director of education at Benedictine, which is a Catholic school.

After the announcement, Tadlock said she was asked to switch jobs. If she didn't switch jobs, she was told that her response would be seen as a choice to retire early.

"Some university officials were aware that Tadlock is a gay woman," the school said in a statement given to the Journal-Register.
"Tadlock acknowledged her awareness that some aspects of her lifestyle are incompatible with fundamental Catholic beliefs, particularly a domestic partnership with another woman.

"It was not Tadlock's orientation, but rather the public disregard for fundamental Catholic beliefs which was the basis for the university's decisions," the statement reads.

Benedictine also argues in the statement that they believe they will win in court, if Tadlock decides to file a lawsuit.