Everyone at his Catholic parish loved his music and knew he was gay, but once he got engaged...
A few weeks ago, I received a fantastic piece of news: Will Nifong,Ā my former Latin teacher and current friend, had gotten engaged to his partner, Colin Collette. I had met Colin only a few times (he always volunteered for a large role hosting the annual National Latin Honor Society banquet at my high school), but I knew that he was an extremely generous and supportive person. I also knew that he was very dedicated to Holy Family Catholic Church in Inverness, where he had worked as an openly gay music director for 17 years.
So words utterly failed me when I learned that Colin had been fired from Holy Family due to his engagement. I was shocked, disgusted, infuriatedāand most of all, sad. Sad that Colin had to choose between his job and his partner. Sad that Will, who was chaperoning the National Junior Classical League convention in Atlanta, could only comfort him from 700 miles away. Sad that one of the happiest occasions of their lives was suddenly flipped upside down and tainted with bigotry. Sad, in short, that āWhere everyone is welcomeā only applies if everyone is straight.
If you sympathize, please consider taking a few seconds to sign (and/or share) this petition. It would mean a lot.
