Mark Richards was fired from his position as a teacher at St Francis Xavier school in New Orleans after his employer learned he’d been in a same-sex marriage. They discover the information via an obituary after Richards husband died.
The 63-year-old music teacher began working at the school in 2003 he never made any secret of his sexuality. When he began working for the school he’d been in a relationship with John Messinger for two years.
His employment contract, which was renewed annually, had a morality clause that forbade staff from entering into a “marriage in violation of the rules of the Catholic church” and also a requirement to not engage in “homosexual activity”. The clause in all staff contracts of Catholic Schools in diocese but it’s been described as a rule that is never enforced.
In September 2023 Messinger died after suffering a heart attack. By this stage the couple had been married for nine years, and together for more than two decades. Richards says many members of the St Francis community were really supportive during his time of loss and grief.
But now, two years after his husband’s death, he’s been told his contract will not be renewed because he lied in the past, and an obituary published two years ago at the time of his husband’s death has been cited as the evidence. The school says an unnamed parent had made a complaint.
Parents who have embraced Richards as a teacher over the decades have come to his defence asking the school to revisit their decision. An online petition garnered almost 5,000 signatures. The school has however delivered a message to the school community saying the decision is final.
Speaking to a local radio station Richards said he was speaking up about the issue because it’s time for change.
“If I can put this out there and bring attention to it and make it easier for some other young, gay educator to stand up to it – then, yeah, I’ll do that,” Mark Richards told the radio show Talk Louisiana With Jim Engster on Tuesday. “I have nothing to lose.
“Let’s make some noise about it. That’s exactly what I’m planning on doing and what I do.”
