It seems that despite the right legislative measures in place, there is still a lot of societal bias towards same-sex couples. This has recently become manifested when a gay teacher was fired by the Catholic school he taught in, as soon as he married his partner.
Ken Bencomo had been teaching at the Catholic high school for the past 17 years and was considered among the best teachers of the school. The said school is an all-girl facility and all his students liked Bencomo.
After the recent Supreme Court verdict which deemed gay marriages as legal, Bencomo decided to marry his partner, Christopher Persky. The marriage ceremony took place on July 1 and was covered in the local press.
However, before soon, Bencomo was no longer a part of the school’s faculty and students cited concerns that he had probably been fired by the administration. As a result, one of Bencomo’s ex-students started a petition on Charge.org, demanding that he be rehired.
The petition reads, “He is a beloved mentor, confidant, and educator. His passion for teaching, as well as his witty personality, have made him a favorite teacher among many students. He is extremely active at St. Lucy’s; he teaches multiple subjects along with taking on various leadership positions including Yearbook moderator, dance coach, and head of the English Department.”
It was eventually confirmed that Bencomo had indeed been fired by the Assistant Principal of the school on July 12. The reason cited by the Assistant Principal was that Bencomo’s marriage violated the church’s teachings. Interestingly, the school had long been well aware of Bencomo’s commitment to his partner but took the decision as if this was a surprise.
Courtesy: Huffington Post
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