A married gay couple planned to file a lawsuit today in Massachusetts alleging the Catholic Church backed out of a deal to sell them property because a church official complained it could be used as a site to hold same-sex weddings.
According to the
Boston Globe, the married business partners were in the middle of negotiations to buy a 26-acre estate owned by the Diocese of Worcester when their broker received an e-mail from diocese chancellor Monsignor Thomas Sullivan saying he was no longer interested in selling "because of a potentiality of gay marriages" being held on the property.
The two gay men, Alain Beret and James Fairbanks, told the Globe their suit to be filed in state superior court would allege the negotiations were ended when the church discovered their sexual orientation.
"I have lived quietly in the mainstream for nearly 60 years, and I expected to continue that,” Beret said in an interview with the Globe. “But I will not continue that at the expense of my dignity.”
Sullivan, who also spoke to the Globe, denied he knew the two men were gay and insisted his e-mail comment had been taken out of context. He said the deal fell through because their financial offers for the property were not acceptable.
"They didn't have the money, that was it," Sullivan said.
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