Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Plano candidate bashed for being gay. That's the headline in the local paper. (I wonder if they have copy editors? Excuse me, editor's.)
Here are two more detailed stories from the Dallas Morning News. This is Tuesday's. Here is Wednesday's follow-up.
In case you don't want to (or are unable to due to a subscription wall) read the articles, here's a summary: Justin Nichols is 23 years old and currently oversees the teen court in our county. He's running for city council. By the way, he's gay. That wasn't a problem until another local publication happened to mention his sexual orientation. Suddenly, one of the county commissioners decided it was time to review Nichols' job, even though his last review in September was positive. The timing is suspicious.
The kicker in the DMN article was a tidbit that this sort of discrimination is not illegal in Texas, though some local governments have anti-discrimination laws in place.
Thankfully, someone with at least half an ounce of common sense dropped the review.
I have a message for a few "enlightened" county officials: Get over it. If you have evidence that someone is incompetent, then please review their status. Otherwise, save my tax dollars for fixing potholes because you WILL get sued over this - if not by Mr. Nichols, then by the next person you try to intimidate for whatever reason.
Tags: Politics