Wendy Weaver, a coach and teacher at Spanish Fork High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, is suing Nebo School District for firing her because she is a lesbian.
Weaver was fired as coach last summer after she divorced her husband and moved in with another woman. The principal told her that she would also lose her job teaching physical education and psychology if she so much as mentioned her “homosexual orientation or lifestyle.” Although she does not want to become a gay rights activist, Weaver says this gag order infringes on her First Amendment rights.
Weaver led the girls’ volleyball team to 4 state championships in her 18 years there. Helen Hjorth, a former student and current varsity volleyball player at Brigham Young University, said Weaver was “the best thing that ever happened to Spanish Fork athletics. There was no reason to fire her except for her personal lifestyle.”
