An Ohio mayor is facing serious allegations after an openly gay police officer charged that she used a series of anti-gay epithets toward him and complained when his partner visited him at the station.
As The Columbus Dispatch is reporting, Pomeroy Officer Kyle Calendine says Mayor Mary McAngus has used the word "queer," among other slurs, to describe him in official discussions. Calendine also charges that McAngus filed complaints when his partner appeared at the police station, even though other officers' spouses make routine visits.
“She was even in the hiring process and she seemed fine,” Calendine, who was hired as a part-time officer last fall, told local news channel WSAZ 3. “A few weeks later...she finds out I'm gay and tries to get me fired because she doesn't like who I am outside of work.”
Backing Calendine's claims was Pomeroy Police Chief Mark E. Proffitt, who submitted a six-page sworn statement to the Pomeroy Village Council saying that McAngus's behavior could invite a discrimination lawsuit.
“She stated ‘I don’t like a Queer working for the Village, I might be old-fashioned, but I don’t like it.’” Proffitt wrote in the statement, according to the Dispatch.
As Gay Star News points out, Town Administrator Paul Helman echoed those sentiments, writing in a signed statement, "Mary began telling me that we had a gay guy working in the police department and she had to run off Kyle’s boyfriend."
Pomeroy Village Council President Jackie Welker was mostly tight-lipped about the allegations, but nonetheless issued a statement which was quoted by the Gallipolis Daily Tribune as reading:
“Concerning the allegations of workplace discrimination between the Mayor of the Village of Pomeroy and a Pomeroy Police Officer, Village Council has no comment at the moment pending further investigation. To that extent, we as a Village do not support discrimination of any kind to any persons based on sexual orientation, race, gender, national origin, age, familial status, disability or any other protected class.”
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