Jail guard fired over antigay remarks
The Dallas Morning News reports a Dallas County jail guard who was recently fired for making offensive remarks claims his free-speech rights have been violated.
A sheriff’s department review concluded 59-year-old Stephen Johnson persisted in giving his religious opinions and making negative comments against gays.
Johnson was fired Jan. 20 for conduct unbecoming an officer and for lying to internal affairs. A sheriff’s department report indicates Johnson in October interrupted a private conversation among jail staff and said gays should be annihilated.
Johnson said March 15 that he was fired because he “hurt someone else’s feelings.”
J. Crew accused of trans discrimination
Advocate.com reports the J. Crew store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue was barraged March 14 by protesters who accused the store of discriminating against transgender job applicants.
Make the Road New York, an advocacy group, claims research indicates a pattern of employment discrimination involving transgender applicants.
According to a press release from the group, “[Transgender applicant] Julian Brolaski applied at a Fifth Avenue J. Crew store. He was treated brusquely, told to fill out an application and was never called.”
The group claims other testers were interviewed on the spot and offered a job soon after.
Lesbian teen sues to force school to hold prom
The Washington Post reports an 18-year-old lesbian student who wanted to take her girlfriend to her prom is asking a federal judge to force her Mississippi school district to reinstate the dance it canceled rather than let the couple attend.
The ACLU of Mississippi filed a lawsuit March 11 on behalf of Constance McMillen, who said she faced some unhappy classmates after the Itawamba County School District said it wouldn’t host the April 2 prom.
The lawsuit seeks a court order for the school to hold the prom and allow McMillen to escort her girlfriend.
The district’s March 10 decision came after the ACLU demanded officials change a policy banning same-sex prom dates because it said it violated students’ rights.
— Larry Nichols