The sudden termination of the work contract for a lesbian head of a kindergarten in this Bavarian town has sparked widespread criticism. When the woman told her employer at the Catholic-run school of her plans to marry her partner this coming summer, she had to sign a severance agreement.

Though the principal is apparently abiding by a confidentiality agreement, local politicians are taking up her cause. Ulrike Gote, a Green Party’s spokeswoman in the state of Bavaria, accuses the Catholic Church of "hypocrisy."

"The Church should actually be delighted that someone wants to marry their partner," Gote says. "These are the kinds of double standards that we have had to deal with for a very long time." Read More