Belmont University is being criticized for terminating women’s soccer coach Lisa Howe, after the coach told team members she was fired because she’s expecting a child with her same-sex partner.
The small private Christian school in Nashville, TN has a policy similar to “don’t ask, don’t tell” regarding gay and lesbian employees of the university.
However, when Howe’s partner got pregnant and rumors started circulating on the soccer team, the coach decided she wanted to tell them.
Reportedly, Howe asked Belmont athletics director Michael Strickland more than once for permission to tell the team that her partner was pregnant, but he never responded to her.
Since Strickland didn’t respond to her, Howe made the decision to inform the team.
According to several players, Howe was essentially forced to resign because as soon as the child was born she would be fired anyway since her sexual orientation would become public, thus violating the school’s policy.
Sophomore Brandi Phillips, a player on the women’s soccer team, says for Howe to have been forced out over something “so wrong is really heartbreaking.”
Students, including some of Howe’s players, held a three-hour protest on Wednesday advocating for a change to the university’s policy and allowing for freedom of sexual orientation.
In a statement from her attorney, Howe told The Associated Press she misses her team but the policies and attitudes at Belmont would have to change for both her and her family to feel safe and welcome.
