Teacher fired after marrying partner
Ken Bencomo, 45, right, and his partner of 10 years, Christopher Persky, 32, are married at the San Bernardino County Hall of Records on July 1. Bencomo was later fired from his teaching position at St. Lucy's Priory High School in Glendora. (Rachel Luna / The Sun)

August 2, 2013
Alan: Every "gay" battle that the Catholic Church wins will contribute to losing the war.  The sensus  fidelium has shifted on this issue and just as surely as The Victory of Capitalism obliged Rome to mothball its previous condemnation of usury  Church authority will  change its current position that "gayness" is a "disordered sexual orientation," seeing it instead as a natural subset of  The Natural Order. (Not always, but in the main: there are exceptions to every rule.) Consider this revealing bit of American history. In the late 1800s (and early 1900s) the United States federal government forced the Church of Latter Day Saints to countermand a core belief.  By contrast, the firing of a 17 year employee for legal activity undertaken in his private life will damage the church's standing. Furthermore, it will prove to be an unncessary, self-inflicted wound.  http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/02/united-states-government-forced-mormons_5.html
"Enemy Of The Catholic Church"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/07/enemy-of-catholic-church.html

Usury
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/03/we-have-multiplied-and-filled-earth.html 


A gay teacher at a Catholic high school in Glendora was fired after he married his partner and photos of the wedding were published in a local newspaper last month.
Ken Bencomo, 45, of Rancho Cucamonga was fired from his teaching position at St. Lucy's Priory High School days after he married his partner of 10 years.
He and Christopher Persky, 32, were among the first couples married at the San Bernardino County assessor-recorder's office after a U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed gay couples to marry in California.
Photos of the ceremony were published in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
Officials at St. Lucy's Priory had been aware of Bencomo's sexual orientation for about 10 of the 17 years he was employed by the school, said Patrick McGarrigle, Bencomo's attorney.
School officials specifically mentioned the wedding and the publicity it received during a meeting at which Bencomo was informed that he had been fired, McGarrigle said.
Bencomo, through his attorney, declined to comment.
"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," McGarrigle said. "It shows a terrible error of judgment and complete disregard of Ken and what he has brought to the school."
On multiple occasions over the year, McGarrigle said, Bencomo has introduced Persky as his partner to administrators at school events.
In a statement released through an attorney, the school said it is "a community of faith for those who wish to express, practice and adhere to values in education based on the Roman Catholic tradition."
"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 these values," the statement reads. "These values are incorporated into the contractual obligations of each of our instructors and other employees."
Bencomo hopes to resolve the situation without legal action, but he has not ruled out filing a lawsuit, McGarrigle said.
"The school went to the draconian measure of firing him without warning and without legal reason," he said. "They haven't expressed any interest in finding a way for Ken to return."
An online petition to reinstate Bencomo had garnered nearly 10,000 signatures by Thursday afternoon.
Brittany Littleton, a 2008 graduate who created the petition, said she was appalled to learn that Bencomo had been fired for something that was common knowledge during her entire time at St. Lucy's Priory.
"He never made it part of the discussion and he never pushed his personal life on us," she said. "But we knew, the school knew, teachers knew — it was never a problem."