Gay teacher fired by Catholic school after announcing intention to ‘marry’ partner
PHILADELPHIA, PA, December 9, 2013 – A homosexual teacher has been fired from Holy Ghost Preparatory School for trying to “marry” his partner of 12 years. The school's headmaster has said the teacher's decision to get a marriage license “contradicts the terms of his teaching contract.”
Michael Griffin, who graduated from Holy Ghost and taught French and Italian, says the school fired him after he sent an e-mail telling administrators “he was going to file for a marriage license and would be slightly late to work.”
According to a statement from headmaster and school president Father James McCloskey, Griffin's contract “requires all faculty and staff to follow the teachings of the Church as a condition of their employment.” McCloskey says Griffin “acknowledged that he was aware of this provision, yet he said that he intended to go ahead with the ceremony.”
Griffin says he wears a wedding ring to work, and has been in a civil union for five years. He claims his partner, Vincent Giannet, has been to McCloskey's home and to school functions, and administrators had known Griffin is homosexual. Griffin is a resident of New Jersey, which made same-sex “marriage” legal in October.
NBC Philadelphia reports Griffin says the following part of his contract created the issue: "That, although, the School welcomes teachers from other denominations and recognizes their rights to religious freedom, as employees of a Catholic institution, all teachers are expected to uphold lifestyles compatible with the moral teaching of the Roman Catholic Church."
Griffin has turned to Facebook for support, where he wrote on Friday that he feels “hurt, saddened, betrayed and except for this post, (I) am at a loss for words.” In that post, Griffin gave the e-mail addresses of Holy Ghost's principal and headmaster.
According to Griffin, school administrators told him that because he used a school e-mail address to inform about his intention to get a marriage license, it made his relationship public, and thus his employment was ended.
A request for comment to Holy Ghost school was unanswered by press time.
