| By Miranda Leitsinger, NBC News, NBC News Gallaudet University would like to work with its chief diversity officer, who was put on leave after signing a petition to reverse Maryland's same-sex marriage law, so she can return to her post, its president said Tuesday. Dr. Angela McCaskill signed the petition at her church after her preacher spoke against gay marriage, the Planet DeafQueer blog reported last week, citing a Gallaudet faculty member who first spotted the administrator's name on the document. Voters in Maryland will decide on Nov. 6 whether to keep a state law passed earlier this year approving same-sex marriage. University President T. Alan Hurwitz said he placed McCaskill on administrative leave as a "prudent action" to allow her and the university "time to consider this question after the emotions of first reactions subsided." "As many know, Dr. McCaskill exercised her right to sign a petition concerning legislation on gay marriage. Because of her position at Gallaudet as our chief diversity officer, many individuals at our university were understandably concerned and confused by her action," he said in a statement. "They wanted to know 'does that action interfere with her ability to perform her job?'" But Wednesday he said he wanted to "indicate forcefully" that the university would like to work with her to "enable her to return to the community from her administrative leave." "While I expect that a resolution of this matter can be reached that will enable Dr. McCaskill to continue as our chief diversity officer, this will require that she and the university community work together to respond to the concerns that have been raised," he added. Related stories: University's diversity chief put on leave after signing anti-gay marriage petition McCaskill's attorney, J. Wyndal Gordon, said: "That's all that she ever wanted to do in the very beginning. They totally flip-flopped on it 180 degrees." "It's encouraging that they evolved in this situation, as President Obama would say, and we look forward to speaking to them to determine whether or not they are sincere." More US coverage from NBC News Gordon said McCaskill wasn't anti-gay and that her signing the petition in July was intended to have the matter decided at the ballot box and allow voters to become more informed on the issue. A Baltimore Sun poll in late September found that Maryland voters favored legalizing same-sex marriage, 49 percent to 39 percent. The survey of 804 likely voters was conducted from Sept. 25 to 27 by research firm OpinionWorks. The margin of error was 3.5 percentage points. More content from NBCNews.com:  |
10/16/2012
University wants anti-gay marriage official back on job
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