A journalist in Maine has been fired from a publication after 19 years for replying to a homosexual activist's e-mail.
Larry Grard, 58, of Winslow covered the November election for Maine Today, the vote in which Maine citizens rejected homosexual "marriage." Subsequently, he received a press release at work from a homosexual activist which read: "We will not allow the lies and hate – the foundation on which our opponents build their campaign – to break our spirits." Being a devout Catholic, Grard was offended by the release's blanket reference to opponents of same-sex marriage.
"Trevor Thomas, who was representing the Human Rights Campaign, complained people who voted 'yes' on [Question] 1, which is [a referendum] against gay marriage, were haters. I took offense to that," Grard explains. "I copied his e-mail address into my personal e-mail at work and kind of fired back at him."
Regardless of the fact that his e-mail reply was done through his personal account, Grard was ultimately fired for his "unethical" and "unprofessional" rebuttal, and he believes it was because he defended traditional marriage. He was further astonished a week later when his wife received a letter from Maine Today.
"I mean, it's small is what it is. It's just absolutely astonishing that they did that. We could not believe it," he says. "My wife, who absolutely did nothing wrong, [just] because she has the same last name as I do, they discontinued her cooking column, which was enormously popular."
Grard, who suffers from chronic insomnia and prostate cancer and whose wife is diabetic, says the loss of employment has made it difficult for his family to make ends meet. He believes he is now paying a price for being a committed Christian who took a stance for traditional marriage.