A forum surrounding the firing of former Eastside Catholic vice principal Mark Zmuda attracted a variety of participants Friday night, Jan. 31, for a thoughtful discussion of that issue and others that affect the Catholic Church.

Zmuda attended the event, as did a number of Seattle Police plainclothes officers. No confrontations occurred throughout the meeting.

The event was organized by alumni of the school and current students. Mary Helen Nuxoll Kopcynski and her husband, Jeffrey “Red” Kopcynski, class of 1996; and Corey Sinser, class of 2007, led the well-attended event. The Kopcynskis flew in from their home in New York to attend the event. All three have been outspoken alumni since Zmuda was fired Dec. 19, 2013, for marrying his male partner last summer. The move by the school to fire him raised issues and started conversations around the country and world about discrimination, the Catholic Church, Eastside Catholic and LGBTQ rights.

“This is a general issue; it’s not just a Catholic issue or a gay issue, it’s faceless,” said Dru Dinero with Social Outreach Seattle. Dinero wore a bright orange mask to emphasis his point. Members of the group at first alarmed some of those at the meeting when they arrived in the masks that completely covered their faces, with yellow tape over their mouths that said “no hate.” They were there in support of Zmuda, or “Mr. Z” as his supporters call him.

Dinero said he grew up in the church and gets why people subscribe to the church and “blindly follow” its teachings.

“I question the scripture, but is it meant to discriminate?” Dinero asked. “I don’t think so.”

The panel discussion, facilitated by Sinser, included Cleve Jones, an AIDS and LGBTQ activist who was a good friend of Harvey Milk, the openly gay San Francisco City Council member who was assassinated along with that city’s mayor by a former City Council member in 1978. Jones, 59, founded the NAMES project AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Jones said he did not grow up in a religious household, but during the Vietnam war time his family became Quakers to avoid the draft. He went to San Francisco in 1972 and was mentored by Milk.

“When I was younger, I got beat up a lot, so I was very angry,” he said.

He said when he saw pictures of the kids at Eastside Catholic who were demonstrating, three of the boys looked just like the kind of guys who used to beat him up and he was astounded. Jones was the person who found Milk’s body, and that’s when it crystalized for him to come up with the quilt project instead of turning to hate.

Mary DeRosas, a parishioner at St. Joseph Parish, where the discussion was held, told the audience she was born into a conservative Catholic family in Boston, but she believes in social justice. She moved out west and found her church home at St. Joseph.

“I’ve always believed in the underdog and I don’t even understand why this is an issue,” DeRosas said. “because Jesus believes in love.”

She said she was compelled to do what God was asking of her and that sexual orientation shouldn’t be an issue.

Rounding out the panel was 17-year-old Zeena Rivera, a senior at Holy Names Academy, who described herself as a queer Catholic youth.

“We might be mythical creatures similar to unicorns, but we exist,” she said.

Rivera has been educated in Catholic schools her entire life. She said being Catholic and caring for everyone is what drives her, adding that on Sundays she goes to mass and to gay pride.

“People are impressed with what the students are doing,” Rivera said, “but isn’t that what we’ve been taught for 13 years?”

DeRosas said she felt it was important to get involved in referendum 74, the 2012 issue that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state because she had many friends in committed relationships who couldn’t get married. She became involved in the LGBTQ group at St. Joseph because she felt it wasn’t right that gay marriage was not allowed in the Catholic Church.

“God doesn’t ask us to follow laws, he asks us to follow God,” she said.

Jones said there is an arrogance by people on the left who dismiss people of faith.

“I have a feeling that what’s happening here is not one of those transitory moments,” he said. “I’m very deeply moved by this. Fan the flames, keep it moving.”

Rivera said closed-minded bigoted ideals are not meshing with what the church members believe. She said homophobia is not the best way to conduct society.

“These ideals break society and serve no one,” Rivera said.

Rev. John Whitney, who opened the meeting with a prayer, said the civil right to marry is not the same as the sacrament of marriage. Acknowledging Pope Francis, he said the real humility of the new pope is that he doesn’t have the answers to these issues, but these conversations are needed.

When Zmuda finally took the stage, the room erupted in applause. He outlined his career and said he comes from five generations of teachers.

“I am Catholic, I believe in God and the Holy Trinity. I do not feel as though I’ve done anything wrong. In Washington it is legal to marry. I’m only asking for tolerance,” he said. “One way to show tolerance is with love. I do feel God loves all his children.”

Zmuda made it very clear that he was “definitely terminated” and that he did not resign. He said his job was to make sure students were safe and got a good education and that’s what he did. He was very grateful to all the people who have stood up for him. He also thanked his husband, Dana Jergens, and said all this attention was not something Jergens expected six-months into a marriage.

A foundation, Stand with Mr. Z, has been formed to stop workplace discrimination. The foundation will offer scholarships.

Nuxoll-Kopcynski said there are people (students and faculty) at Eastside who are scared, but the alumni are immune.

“We’re not going to get grounded or suspended,” she said. “This is just the beginning.”

Zmuda does want his job back. Among the parents present, were Molly and Brian Jester. Residents of the Issaquah Highlands, they took their son, Bradley, a junior, out of Eastside Catholic.

“We felt we’d be supporting discrimination if we stayed,” Molly Jester said.

She said she knew for certain that six other families have pulled their kids out of the school and several are contemplating not sending their kids back next year. The Jester’s also have an adopted daughter of color and didn’t know what kind of message that would send to her.

“If they brought Mr. Zmuda back we’d be back tomorrow,” she said.

The school has taken its anti-discriminatory statement off its website.

Jones, who turns 60 in October, said he believes in his lifetime he will see his people, gay people, have all equal civil rights. He made his message clear to the young people who were there.

“It is very important that you demand everything — immediately,” he said.

Mark Zmuda speaks to supporters at the ZDay panel, with members of the swim team he coached on stage. Zeena Rivera, in the “who am I to judge” T-shirt was one of the panelists.

Dru Dinero with Social Outreach Seattle, makes the statement that the issue of discrimination is faceless.