Lesbian teacher fights for right to teach. (Notebook: education information from schools, business, research and professional organizations).

A lesbian teacher is fighting for her job in Utah Supreme Court after several parents claimed her known sexual orientation adversely affected students.

Wendy Weaver still teaches psychology at Spanish Fork High School in the Nebo School District.

The Utah Supreme Court, which heard arguments from both sides in early October, could come to a decision within five months or up to two years, experts says.

Several parents claim she is unfit to teach after a student had asked her in the late 1990s if she was gay. She said she was.

In July 1997, district officials ordered her to keep quiet about her lesbian lifestyle. But Weaver went to the ACLU and filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit declaring a gag order is unconstitutional.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of the Citizens of Nebo School District for Moral and Legal Values claimed Weaver was unfit to teach on moral grounds. The suit suggests she violated the Utah Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Constitutional Freedoms in Schools Act and Utah's teacher certification requirements.

Weaver won that case in 1999, which was appealed to the Utah Supreme Court.

Michael McCoy, general counsel for the Utah Education Association, says Weaver did not violate Utah teacher rules. "This is all about purifying the world according to their (a few parents') beliefs," he says.