Gay California Catholic teacher's firing sparks online petition
LOS ANGELES | Fri Aug 2, 2013 12:42am EDT
By Alex Dobuzinskis
(Reuters) - A Catholic high school teacher said he was fired for marrying his gay partner soon after same-sex matrimony was made legal in California, prompting a Web-based push to see him reinstated.
The petition drive in support of English instructor Ken Bencomo on the online petition platform Change.org has gathered over 9,000 signatures from his former students and people as far away as Spain since it was launched earlier this week.
The teacher and his partner were among a wave of same-sex couples who married after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June cleared the way for gay weddings to resume in California for the first time since 2008.
If Bencomo sues, his attorney, Patrick McGarrigle, sees it as a potential test case of legal protections some religious institutions assert they have in hiring and firing based on principles of faith.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/02/us-usa-teacher-catholic-idUSBRE97106L20130802
http://www.change.org/petitions/st-lucy-s-priory-high-school-give-ken-bencomo-his-job-back
= new reply since forum marked as read
