So, someone gets great evaluations at work and then begins the process of sex change operation and he gets fired. Shame on the Largo City Council members for out and out discrimination against Steve Stanton.
This man did well in his job for a long time. Shame, shame,shame. I guess Largo City Council is saying women can't do the job as well as men.
This is why Hillsborough County - (actually Florida) needs anti-discrimination law for sexual orientation. Your performance should be the only thing that counts. Not who you kiss.
Actually protections for sexual orientation would not have protected him. The law needs to reflect both sexual orientation and gender identity.
ReplyDeleteI don't care what he looks like, Largo is wrong.
ReplyDeleteLargo really screwed up.
ReplyDeleteAlso someone needs to look at what's happening at USF with the whole Genshaft salary and the lack of faculty contracts....the administration there is really bad and they are shooting themselves in the foot each day yet the board thinks they are great. Typical American power disconnect.
It's not discrimination at all. It's not about whether or not a woman or a man can do the job better or worse. Rather, it is a question of character.
ReplyDeleteCharacter? No, I am not questioning a person's right to change his or her gender. However, the underlying character of a person undergoing such a procedure disregarding the direct welfare of his family comes into question. Subjecting his family to this kind of abuse in the name of selfishness betrays an underlying character not fit for public office. A person willing to do such things to his family no doubt has the inner workings do work such destruction in a larger forum that has nothing to do with his flesh and blood.
Sexual orientation has nothing to do with this issue. What you are willing to do to people to get your way, that is the issue.
Great evaluations at work aren't always evidence that someone deserves to keep his position. President Bush had great evaluations when he was in office in Texas. Which of you wouldn't get him out of office if you could?
I disagree, if this same person had been committing adultery, they would not have called for his resignation. If he had failed to pay child support, we wouldn't have heard about it. Both of those and many others are at least as selfish and destructive to a family as his inner struggle. I submit any person who betrays their spouse or child in those ways is just as capable of greater deceit in their job. Yet we don't nor are we allowed to let that influence how we treat them for employment purposes. Gender dystrophia is a strange, uncomfortable notion to most of us, and we tend to persecute that which is different. Much of the furor raised is from religious types who forget that it is God's realm to exact judgment and punishment, not ours.
ReplyDeleteNobody should be fired due to a mental disease.
ReplyDeleteThis dude needs help.
Steve,
ReplyDeleteSo if I read you right as long as Staton stays married and is miserable as a person and his wife knows there is a problem but he won't discuss it and the family stays together for the sake of outword apperances and the unhappiness in that family unit abounds it is the right moral and character building stance to take???
Much like saying my acoholic father should stay in the family unit and create unhappiness all the way around but come home every night to his family because morally that is the most important thing to do....maintain a family unit becuase it is there regardless of the emotional conflicts it would create.
I think it took courage for Stanton to be willing to discuss this issue with his family- albet in an accelerated fashion due to the prying efforts of the St Pete Times rather than being unhappy with himself and by direct extension those interacting in his life.
have you been around someone that is severly depressed that will not address the issue and will not talk to you about it - how uncomfortable is that for all involved - who is better off for sweeping it under the rug and not discussing the looming issue in the room.
I'm sure Stanton woke up one day and said what can I do that would display my character and generate distrust to those in my life and create a living HELL for all.......yeah right - maybe escaping the reality and doing drugs or drinking to escape the pain would be a better way of addressing it - a better moral out - he can blame it on the drugs - that would get him the Christian love and support he needs. Aren't there plenty of social services out there that let the "victim" blame everyone but themselves for the mess they created?
That means he would have to poo in the same stall with beautiful women??
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should think about a sex change too..
Doesn't matter a bit to me what he is or isn't, however, I have to say that the part where the city originally said they were bringing in a staff of counselors to help his co workers cope, blew me away. THAT is definitely something I do not want my tax dollars spent on. We are a soft ignorant society these days. It seems like you need someone to hold your hand every time something happens that is out of the ordinary. Cope people, it is life! So he has sex issues, what the heck does that have to do with his co workers lives?
ReplyDeleteLane DeGregory shines a light on ignorance:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/04/Floridian/Thus_saith_the_Lord__.shtml
If he is doin-g his job well he should not be fired. Transexual or not. When he cannot do his job well then he should be let go. The decision was not based on his ability to do his job but on some pointy faced women's hang up about a surgery he will have at some future date. Maybe they're afraid when the surgery is over Stanton will be prettier than they are. Regardless, it is wrong!
ReplyDeleteIs this really any surprise? We elect one openly homophobic person after another to our city and county offices. This is a reflection on our character as a community. (And we aren't looking too good.)
ReplyDeleteRhonda Storms strikes a blow for the biggoted, gets her name alongside "Tampa" in every major newspaper in the country, and for her efforts is promoted. The city council in Largo has no reason to fear their decision as it will doubtlessly be supported by the majority of Tampa Bay and Florida residents.
If the St Pete Times wants a real juicy story, perhaps they should report on the strong KKK and white supremacist movement in Central Florida. Transsexual leaders make better headlines, I guess.
Tomorrow, when you vote, remember that Barcena and Rev Thomas Scott would feel right at home on Largo City council.
Anonymous 3/4/07 - 1:28 pm
ReplyDeleteGod is not male nor female.
Exodus 3:14 (King James Version)
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
I think you might want to rethink who and what God is.