The Catholic League has come to the defense of a Boston Latin School teacher, Owen O’Malley, after calls for disciplining and firing him because he wrote a letter critical of homosexuality which was published in the school paper.
O’Malley, a member of the Catholic League, has been the object of controversy in the Boston media since March 25, when the Boston Herald first published reports of homosexual anger over his views.
As part of a debate on Governor Weld’s recently enacted homosexual student law, O’Malley contributed a letter to Argo, the school paper, in which he objected to the law as “homosexual propaganda,” and described adults who engage in homosexual acts as “perverse, wicked, and extremely dangerous to society.”
Catholic League Operations Director C. Joseph Doyle characterized the effort as an attempt “to punish, censor, and intimidate into silence an opponent of the homosexual agenda.” O’Malley, Doyle said, is being punished for having the temerity to express views held by millions of other Americans regarding homosexual behavior.
One of those openly calling for O’Malley’s punishment is David LaFontaine, chair of the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth and a long-time associate of the radical hate group ACT-UP.
At the time of its proposal, Doyle warned that passage of the homosexual student law would result in both limitations on free speech and discrimination against Catholics and others who found homosexual behavior immoral.
The League has warned school officials that any action taken against O’Malley, whose position is based on stated moral convictions consistent with his religious beliefs, would be seen as an unlawful act of discrimination and a violation of the Massachusetts Civil Rights Law. -JP
