Teacher fired for being gay receives apology 42 years later

A teacher fired for being gay has received an apology 42 years after his dismissal.

History teacher Jim Gaylord was fired from his job at Wilson High School in Tacoma in 1972, after a student told the principal that he suspected he may be gay.

Gaylord told the principal that the rumours were correct, but was shocked to be fired as a result of the confirmation, ABC News reports.

He filed a lawsuit against the Tacoma school district, but the firing was considered legitimate as homosexuality was deemed to be a “sufficient cause for discharge” at the time.

Seth Kirby, executive director at the Oasis Youth Center, decided to approach the Wilson High School’s current board president Kurt Miller about Gaylord’s story.

Kirby has now issued a formal apology, saying: “Back then, it was legal to fire staff based on their sexual orientation. It is now illegal in our state. We want our students to know that when they go through decisions like that, there are people they can talk to.

“We honour and respect gay teachers, and they shouldn’t be afraid that anyone would retaliate them. Forty-two years later, all we can do is to apologise. We want to give him the dignity back.”

“Jim said that it felt really good to put a nice ending to an unfortunate story,” Kirby said of Gaylord’s reaction to the apology.

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