First-grade teacher Jocelyn Morffi’s gay wedding in the Florida Keys didn’t have a happily ever after tale that many of our couples enjoy. Instead, she was fired by the Miami Catholic school after marrying her same-sex partner in an apparent violation of church rules.
“This weekend I married the love of my life and unfortunately I was terminated from my job as a result,” Morffi reportedly wrote in a post on social media (her Instagram account is now private). “In their eyes I’m not the right kind of Catholic for my choice in partner.”
Archdiocese of Miami officials confirmed to the Miami Herald that Morffi lost her job at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School on Thursday, the day after she returned from her Florida Keys wedding.
Parents shared their outrage over the firing. One such parent is Samantha Mills, whose child was in Morffi’s class last year, told the Herald, “This teacher in particular has made such a contribution to the school. She never imposes her personal beliefs on others. She just does everything in love. She has a way of teaching that is so amazing.”
“We were extremely livid. They treated her like a criminal, they didn’t even let her get her things out of her classroom,” said Cintia Cini, another parent of one of the children in Morffi’s class, who told the paper that she neither knew or cared that Morffi was gay. “Our only concern was the way she was with our children, the way she taught our children and this woman by far was one of the best teachers out there,” she said.
Though marriage equality is available in Florida, the state doesn’t have a statewide law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. A Miami-Dade County ordinance that protects LGBTQ residents from discrimination exempts religious institutions from certain provisions.
Help fight for LGBTQ rights in Florida by supporting Equality Florida.
Additional sources: NBC / Associated Press
