One of the 160,000 Marylanders who signed a petition to overturn the state's same-sex marriage law may lose her job as chief diversity officer at Gallaudet University for participating in an "inappropriate legislative initiative," WORLD News Service reports. Dr. Angela McCaskill -- the first deaf African-American woman to earn a doctorate from Gallaudet, which specializes in programs to accommodate deaf and hard-of-hearing students -- signed the petition in July. Because of the petitioners' efforts, voters in Maryland will have the opportunity to repeal the law creating same-sex marriage; a "no" vote on Question 6 would repeal the law. On Wednesday, Gallaudet president T. Alan Hurwitz placed a statement on the university's Facebook page indicating he had placed McCaskill on paid administrative leave immediately and would use the time to determine his next steps regarding the situation. "It recently came to my attention that Dr. McCaskill has participated in a legislative initiative some feel is inappropriate for an individual serving as Chief Diversity Officer," Hurwitz wrote. But Robert Muise, senior counsel at the American Freedom Law Center, says all Americans have the right to sign petitions. "This is just a microcosm of a really larger problem that I'm seeing across the country -- Christians who want to engage in their religious belief and express their views are being punished," Muise said.
