The Right's Newest Martyr

As expected, the wingnutosphere is rallying around fired Maine reporter Larry Grard, who was dismissed from the Morning Sentinel after 19 years following his "in your face" email to the Human Rights Campaign on the morning after the vote to repeal same-sex marriage.

Catholic League:

As a Catholic, Grard has a right to hold, express and defend the teachings of the Catholic Church with impunity. While the First Amendment does not apply to private organizations, the fact remains that if Grard can be fired for something like this, then the rights of all reporters are in jeopardy. This explains why the Portland Newspaper Guild is standing squarely behind him. So is the Catholic League. We have put Grard, and his wife, in contact with law firms that may want to sue Mr. Thompson and his newspaper.

American Family Association:

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. 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.

Newsbusters:

The censorious intolerance of the gay left is on display again – a reporter was fired in Waterville, Maine. His offense? Sending an angry private e-mail to the Human Rights Campaign in Washington. The HRC wanted the reporter dismissed – and bang, he was terminated.s this a new trend? Being Google-canned? It didn’t matter that Grard sent an e-mail privately. It didn’t matter that Grard never covered the "gay marriage" initiative battle. He had taken offense at the HRC, and that was apparently grounds for firing: