aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Fired for sex change

Last week James Joyner found the story of the Florida official undergoing a sex change operation “[not] particularly noteworthy in this day and age.” The juxtaposition of advertisement and photos made the story mildly amusing and earned it an Outside the Beltway post.

This week we learn that the Largo citizenry and commissioners were hardly amused:

“His brain is the same today as it was last week,” Commissioner Gay Gentry said. “He may be even able to be a better city manager. But I sense that he’s lost his standing as a leader among the employees of the city.”

Commissioners voted 5-2, with Mayor Pat Gerard and Commissioner Rodney Woods in dissent, to place Stanton on paid leave while his departure is made final. [...]

Before the vote, Stanton, 48, described the dismay of watching his reputation disintegrate in just seven days.

Until last week, he had served 14 years as the city manager, generally to good reviews. Last fall, commissioners raised his salary nearly 9 percent to $140,234 a year.

But on Feb. 21, the St. Petersburg Times reported that Stanton was undergoing hormone therapy in preparation for gender-reassignment surgery - a plan known only to a small circle of people, including his wife, medical team and a few top officials at City Hall.

Stanton and his friends had written an eight-page plan to help make his decision known in June, when he said his 13-year-old son could be out of town and shielded from the publicity.

Instead, the news came out before he told his son. Outraged residents swarmed commissioners, demanding he be ousted.

“It’s just real painful to know that seven days ago I was a good guy and now I have no integrity, I have no trust and most painful, I have no followers,” Stanton said.

Read the story. Tragic and sad.