A gay teacher at a Catholic high school in Glendora, California, was fired because photos of his wedding appeared in a local newspaper, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Ken Bencomo and his partner were one of the first couples married after the US Supreme Court struck down Proposition 8 in June.
School administrators had known that Bencomo was gay for about a decade but decided last month not to renew his contract because of the publicity generated by his wedding.
“Ken was one of the school’s star educators and the decision to terminate him because he lawfully married a man is just heartbreaking to him — it’s crushing,” said Bencomo’s attorney, Patrick McGarrigle. “It shows a terrible error of judgment and complete disregard of Ken and what he has brought to the school.”
The school issued a statement saying that “while the school does not discriminate against teachers or other school employees based on their private lifestyle choices, public displays of behavior that are directly contrary to church teachings are inconsistent with [our] values.”
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