Iowa Catholic Church Fires Woman Over Transgender Counseling
The Bilerico Project
Filed by: Betty Greene Salwak
January 21, 2010 4:30 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2010/01/iowa_catholic_church_fires_woman_over_transgender.php (http://www.bilerico.com/2010/01/iowa_catholic_church_fires_woman_over_transgender.php)
A recent article in the Des Moines Register reports that in September of last year a housekeeper at a Catholic student center at Drake University was fired by the parish bishop. Susan McIntyre.pngSusan McIntyre, a transgender woman, is a certified social worker and counselor who felt pulled to "work with the sickest of the sick and poorest of the poor." A housekeeper at the Newman Center for ten years, she also counseled transgender persons. She was given permission a few years ago to use the center's offices on Saturdays to meet with and lead a transgender support group. Last fall, a priest new to the parish found a letter on a copier. The letter, written on the center's letterhead, authorized hormone therapy for a transgender person about to undergo a sex change. The letter was written by McIntyre. In a brief meeting with the bishop and his attorney, McIntyre was fired.
Susan McIntyre has posted in the comment thread to the article that the letterhead belonged to her. She printed it on her own computer. She also states an intention to go to court over her firing.