TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The longtime music director at a northern Michigan church said he was fired just a few months before retirement after officials learned that he was in a same-sex marriage, a dismissal that has angered members and led to sidewalk protests by the choir. “He’s extremely talented, he’s perfect on the piano, he has perfect pitch and because of him, I look forward to going to church every week,” said Bob Holden, a chorister at St. Francis Church in Traverse City. “I’m divorced. Do I get thrown out next?” Holden told the Traverse City Record-Eagle.