Demonstrators gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, as the court hears arguments on a part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that prevents legally wed same-sex couples from receiving certain benefits by defining marriage as between a man and woman. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT)

The year 2012 was a pretty historic year in terms of marriage equality. The lower house of Uruguay’s Congress voted in overwhelming support of a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage. At the very last minute, however, the upper chamber of Congress opted to postpone the vote until April 2013 in order to further discuss the language of the bill. This bill is expected to pass the Senate in April and President Jose Mujica has promised to sign the bill into law as soon as it reaches his desk. To me, the progress in Uruguay signifies more positive change in the world than the victories we experienced here in the United States, though those victories obviously hit much closer to home. Any stigma or stereotype that we can break regarding Latin countries and homophobia is a huge victory. We also experienced some victories in the fight for marriage equality right here in the United States in 2012. Maine, Washington and Maryland all voted to approve bills that made same-sex marriage legal on election night.

This year has already proven to be looking good for marriage equality. On February 5th, the lower house of the United Kingdom’s Parliament, the House of Commons, voted 400 to 175 in favor of a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage throughout the entire UK. Before this bill can become law, though, has a few more steps to go before becoming law. The House of Lords is usually a more difficult house to pass through, but this bill in particular is expected to pass due to the overwhelming support in the House of Commons. Despite a large lack of support in his own Conservative Party, Prime Minister David Cameron has vocalized his support for marriage equality, saying: “I am a strong believer in marriage. It helps people commit to each other, and I think it is right that gay people should be able to get married too. This is, yes, about equality. But it is also about making our society stronger.” (The Advocate)

“My name is Mike Moroski and I like people.” – Mike

On Monday, February 4th, The Archdiocese of Cincinnati gave Mike Moroski an ultimatum: To take down his blog post entitled Choose Your Battles affirming marriage equality and sign a number of documents ensuring he’d never speak out again on the subject– or, lose his job at Purcell Marian High School.

Mike decided to keep his post active and replied with this statement:

“After much deliberation with my wife, family, trusted clergy, professionals from all walks of life and my own meditative silence, I decided not to take the post down, nor to recant my position that “I unabashedly believe gay people SHOULD be allowed to marry.”

Mike’s Choose Your Battles blog entry goes on to say, “Love of hurting others is where I draw the line – whether sexually, emotionally, physically, mentally – I do not accept the love of hurt.”

An online petition is now active on change.org to help convince the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to reinstate Mike’s job. On the petition, which has already received more than 4,000 signatures and climbing, one of Mike’s former students, Fabian Applebee, speaks out.

“As a sophomore at Purcell Marian, I can’t stand idly by while the Archdiocese terminates Mr. Moroski, for such a trivial reason,” Fabian says. “So what if he isn’t exactly in line with the Catholic Church? The church has been wrong before. Galieo was placed under house arrest by the church, simply because he thought the earth was revolving around the sun. Don’t make that mistake again, allow Mr. Moroski to come back!”

Mike posted to his blog that on Friday, February 8th, he found himself still on administrative leave with a pending termination by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for his public support of marriage equality.

“As I stated a few weeks ago, you gotta ‘choose your battles,’” Mike says. “I did not pick this one, but it picked me, and, after a week of discernment, I have decided that I will gladly accept it.”

READ MIKE’S FULL STATEMENT HERE AND SIGN THE PETITION TO HELP MIKE GET HIS JOB BACK