Massachusetts Court Says Catholic Girls School Should Hire Homosexuals

By Liberty Counsel —— Bio and Archives December 21, 2015

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Dedham, MA - Judge Douglas Wilkins of Norfolk County Superior Court denied a motion for summary judgement requested by Fontbonne Academy, a Catholic all-girls prep-school that terminated a new employee, Matthew Barrett, because he is involved in homosexual conduct and holds a marriage license to another man. Fontbonne regards all employees as models to the students.

During the hiring process, the applicant was explicitly told that the school views every position "as a 'minister of the mission' and that Barrett would be expected to model Catholic teaching and values," to which he agreed prior to being offered the position as Director of Food Services. When he listed his emergency contact as his "husband," the school rescinded the offer for employment. The court dismisses the school's constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom, falsely claiming that employing Barrett will not "dilute that message" because that only applies to hiring "teachers, ministers, and spokespersons." The court uses pages of legalese to disregard state law that specifically exempts religious employers. The decision renounces the school's right of association as "not absolute," but subject to the state's "compelling interest." In conclusion, the court finds merit in two counts of discrimination because Barrett was dismissed for his publicly known homosexual conduct and because he was treated differently for marrying a man than a woman would have been. The court also misleadingly claims that Barrett's daily presence in the school will not be seen as an endorsement of homosexual conduct. It is ridiculous for the preeminent rights guaranteed in the Constitution to be discarded in favor of a newly created privilege for those involved in homosexual conduct. The Chief Justice of the United States has officially stated that such privileges are nowhere found in the Constitution. To ignore this school's rights by forcing them to hire someone who is actively living contrary to the religious beliefs of the school strips the school of any meaningful distinction of their beliefs and forces young girls to interact with individuals who are publicly living in blatant opposition to the religious tenets of the school. "Now, homosexual demands are dwarfing the foremost rights revered in our nation's founding and written into the unchangeable law of our land," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "It was the search for religious freedom that caused of the birth of our nation, and it cannot be discarded without serious consequences." topics.