High school music director says he was fired again for same-sex marriage in Tennessee

A Tennessee man says he was fired from his role as a musical director at a Catholic high school in Chattanooga for being in a same-sex marriage.

John Thomas McCecil told McClatchy News he was fired from Notre Dame High School shortly after his start date.

The high school, of which McCecil is an alumnus, reached out in December asking him to direct “Godspell,” Notre Dame’s upcoming musical.

The week before the contractual start date, Monday, Feb. 7, McCecil says he went on campus to meet the director and have production meetings about the show, and he attended auditions for two days.

On Sunday, Feb. 6, McCecil says he received a voicemail from Kyle Schmitt, the president of Notre Dame, asking to return his phone call. When McCecil called Schmitt back, McCecil says Schmitt told him his “same-sex marriage goes against Catholic Church teachings, that marriage is between a man and a woman only, and therefore he was terminating my service agreement.”

McCecil told McClatchy News this is the second time this has happened to him in less than three years. He says he was forced to resign from Our Lady of the Mount Catholic Church in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, in 2019 because he was in a “questionable” relationship.

Schmitt and Notre Dame High School did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

McCecil told McClatchy News that Schmitt sent a letter to all current students, parents and alumni to address the situation. In that letter, he says the school president said McCecil was not removed because of his personal life choices, but rather because he took a public stance against the Catholic Church.

“I never took a public stance,” the former musical director said. “All I did was shed light on the discrimination that happened to me in 2019.”

Notre Dame High School is one of the schools within the Diocese of Knoxville. The Diocese, established in 1988, is estimated to house about 70,000 Catholics, its website states, and includes “eight foundational schools and two high schools.”

In a statement to McClatchy News, the diocese said its policy “requires that everyone who works in our parishes and schools may not take public stances or make public advocacies in direct opposition to the teachings of the Catholic church.”

The diocese further explained that “a decision to terminate employment or a personal services contract is not about that person’s decision and right to live as he or she chooses. They most certainly have that right. The decision is about our right as a religious institution to abide by our deeply held beliefs which include Church teachings on the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman.”

McCecil said he doesn’t want this incident to become a “witch hunt” against Notre Dame High School. “This is me sharing my experience and asking the Catholic Church for lasting change,” he said.

A petition has been filed on Change.org to “protect LGBTQ+ staff and students’‘ at Notre Dame High School. McCecil said the petition was filed by a current senior student. “That surprised me,” he said. “That was delightful.”

As of Tuesday, Feb. 22, it had received over 2,100 signatures, according to the online platform.

The petition states that “President Schmitt’s decision to fire a LGBTQ+ instructor at Notre Dame High School is unacceptable across the board. We need to protect everyone from discrimination especially because it sets precedence for the future.”

McCecil has been the director of music ministry at Rivermont Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, since August 2019, after his resignation from Our Lady of the Mount Catholic Church. McCecil says the Rivermont church is “beyond accepting” and people there “affirm and celebrate” his marriage.

The church’s website states that “John Thomas married his amazing husband, Jesse, in May of 2019,” and that together, “they enjoy long walks on the beach, quiet mornings on the porch sipping coffee, and cheez-its.”

McCecil said he wants younger children who read about the incident to know that “there are churches like the Presbyterian Church, that will love, accept and celebrate who they are, whether it be sexuality, gender identity, they are loved.”

“Hold out hope,” he said. “I always dreamed of having a family, marrying a man and raising kids together. And I have that. I have the life that I dreamed of.”

McCecil said he and his husband were approved in January to be foster parents, and they have welcomed their first foster child.

“The life they dream of is waiting for them.”

This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 12:08 PM with the headline "High school music director says he was fired again for same-sex marriage in Tennessee."