The kids of Dowling Catholic High School in Des Moines seem pretty cool, for stinky teenagers. They have a substitute teacher they really like, Tyler McCubbin, who is engaged to be married to his boyfriend, in a gay way. Which is legal to do in Iowa. McCubbin was in line for a full-time position at the school, but was rejected because his big gay life, according to the Diocese, "was at odds with Church teaching." This pissed the students off, so instead of taking it lying down, they decided to stage a walkout:

About 200 students and alumni — as well as supporters from surrounding cities — gathered in the rain for the walkout and participated in prayer. [...]

Those at Wednesday's walkout argued that the hiring process at Catholic schools need to be changed so that schools do not discriminate against job candidates because of their sexual orientation. Gigi Filer, a 1991 Dowling alumna and parent of a Dowling freshman, said she believes schools are "cherry-picking the Catholic doctrine."

Take that, Catholic Church. Their parents were there WITH THEM, supporting the gay teacher, because middle-aged American Catholics don't tend to be particularly shitty on these issues either. There they were, all out in the rain, PRAYING with each other, for gay stuff. And they weren't even trying to pray the gay away!

The attitudes of these kids fall in line with the opinions of Catholic millennials overall. A recent Public Religion Research Institute poll shows that 73 percent of millennials support laws protecting LGBT people from discrimination in jobs and housing, and so on, but when you look at just the Catholic millennials, that number jumps to over 8 out of 10. Yes, Roman Catholic Church, your American young'ins are MORE LIBERAL than society at large, so suck it.

This isn't the first time Catholic students have decided to Protest About A Gay Thing. In 2013, Catholic students in Seattle got all up in the local archbishop's grill, because their beloved vice principal, Mark Zmuda, had been fired for marrying his same-sex gay partner. The same year, Mount Saint Mary Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas, forced the resignation of an also beloved teacher and coach, Tippi McCullough, for marrying HER same-sex lady lover. Were the Southern kids any more conservative on the issue? Fuck no! They went apeshit -- students, parents, and alumni alike.

[contextly_sidebar id="bvuz9M9T0nfYf2RwDCvQJih5xrU5crNy"]

In all these cases, it was common knowledge that the teacher or principal was gay, and the dioceses in question were willing to ignore it, as long as they kept it to themselves. But gay-marrying? That's off limits! How dare you stand before your friends and family and actually COMMIT to a same-sex partner? You can test drive The Gay, but if you actually sign the contract and buy The Gay, you're fired.

The Church can hold onto its bigotry as long as it wants, we guess, but it should probably take a moment to realize that the kids aren't going to budge on this issue, and if they get pissed off enough, they'll just leave the Catholic Church, like they're doing to the Evangelicals. Look forward to some empty cathedrals!

[USA Today / Public Religion Research Institute / photo credit: Michael Zamora, The Des Moines Register]