Reinstate Police Chief in South Carolina Who Was Fired for Being Gay

This is absolute discrimination, no different than if we were discussing color or nationality; please sign and share this petition and share it on all of your social media networks to spread the word and encourage this Mayor in South Carolina to reinstate Officer Crystal Moore, a 20 year veteran.

Police chief Crystal Moore has been on the force for more than 20 years. She has always been an excellent officer of the law, never receiving any type of reprimand during her entire career. All of a sudden, Mayor Earl Bullard of Latta, South Carolina discovered that Chief Moore was gay and chose to fire her for no apparent reason. At a meeting, he openly stated that "I would much rather have ... and I will say this to anybody's face ... somebody who drank and drank too much taking care of my child than I had somebody whose lifestyle is questionable around children. I'm not going to let two women stand up there and hold hands and let my child be aware of it. And I'm not going to see them do it with two men neither." However, Chief Moore never gave the mayor reason to fire her through open signs of affection, inappropriate behavior or improper work ethics.

There has been a lot of controversy regarding the firing of Chief Moore due to the mayor’s homophobia. This comes at a time when many in Congress are pushing for passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would make it illegal to fire or harass someone at work for being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. It was not until Mayor Bullard’s term that Chief Moore received any reprimands, after so many dedicated years in her career. Bullard just became Mayor in December and broke protocol by not giving the Chief a verbal or written warning for any wrongdoing, or discussing the matter with the council before taking action. He clearly acted out of hate and discrimination.

Chief Moore heard for weeks that the Mayor was going to fire her although he continued to deny it to her face. "I can't believe that we still have no equal rights. That's the biggest issue," Moore said. "I've been harassed, intimidated. This is the first time it's been this public. I'd tried living a quiet decent life and do what I'm supposed to.”

Chief Crystal Moore was wrongly fired and this is a blatant case of discrimination as it would be against someone of a different race, color, creed or nationality. A spokesperson for South Carolina Equality states "I think the truly inspiring thing is to see the diverse community of small town South Carolina fighting for an LGBT person's rights and standing up to the Mayor's discrimination," said executive director Ryan Wilson. "This is just another sign that South Carolina is changing and that those who oppose equality are very quickly becoming the minority in every corner of our state."

This officer has done everything right to serve and protect during the entire 20 years of her career and deserves to continue this capacity for the people she loves. This is absolute discrimination, no different than if we were discussing color or nationality; please sign and share this petition and share it on all of your social media networks to spread the word and encourage this Mayor in South Carolina to reinstate Officer Crystal Moore, a 20 year veteran.