Maggie Barton is out of a job after the former Catholic teacher was terminated by the Archdiocese of Denver for being in a same-sex relationship. The adult who was dating another consenting adult says she was discriminated against.

Barton has devoted the last decade of her life to teaching students and spent the previous six years teaching technology at All Souls Catholic School in Englewood, a municipality of Denver. In an article published Saturday (Feb. 4), she told local news station FOX31, “I just absolutely fell in love with it. I was like, ‘This is what I’m supposed to be doing.’” Now, she will have to find a new passion. “It’s discrimination. There’s no other word for it. To be terminated from a position because of my sexual orientation. That’s discrimination,” she said.

The Archdiocese of Denver issued a statement to FOX31: “The school found it necessary to conclude the teacher’s employment because she did not honor the commitments she agreed to in her contract with the school. Every Catholic school teacher in the Archdiocese of Denver, as a minister of the Church, signs a contract at the outset of each school year, and in that agreement, they pledge to ‘personally [exemplify] the characteristics of Catholic living,’ which includes ‘refraining from taking any public position or conducting himself or herself in a manner that is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.‘”

While speaking to the outlet, Barton noted that she was raised Catholic but didn’t see the correlation between how her personal life would interfere with her performance in the classroom. “I chose to work in a Catholic school because that’s what I know. That’s what I love. That’s what’s familiar to me, and I wanted to give students the same experience that I had. Just because of my sexual orientation, that shouldn’t have to change that,” the former instructor stated. The Archdiocese of Denver added, in part, “The school was made aware that one of their teachers is in a same-sex relationship, and after discussing this with the teacher, learned that she intends to persist in violating the standards she previously agreed to uphold. An employee who violates any of the terms of their employment agreement knows from the outset of their work that they can’t remain employed at the school.”