Matthew LaBanca said he held two titles while working for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn: music teacher and parish music director.
Off and on for 16 years, he played the organ and led the choir at Corpus Christi Church in Queens. In 2015, he also began working at St.
Joseph Catholic Academy, also in Queens, where he taught children to sing and play instruments like the recorder or the drums.
But, after Mr. LaBanca married his boyfriend in August, he learned that a group of church leaders were debating his future and were pondering whether he also had another job within the Catholic church — that of “minister” — though he has no formal religious training and his jobs did not involve religious education or preaching.