Atlanta Fire Chief Suspended for Anti-Gay Book Disseminated to Employees

A blogger friend on Facebook asked how a supposedly educated person could embrace the type of ignorance and bigotry as that displayed by Kelvin Cochran, the fire chief of Atlanta, Georgia,  in a self-published book that equates homosexuality with bestiality and pederasty, which Cochran then distributed to fire department employees.  My response in one word?  Religion.  Anti-gay bigots like Cochran wrap their hate and bigotry in the cloak of "deeply held religious belief" just like so many throughout history have done to justify their inhumanity to others.  In the process, of course, Cochran embraces ignorance as a badge of honor.  Cochran has been suspended without pay for one month - better that he had been outright fired.  Here are highlights from the Atlanta Constitution:

Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran has been suspended without pay for one month because of authoring a religious book in which he describes homosexuality as a “perversion” akin to bestiality and pederasty.

Mayor Kasim Reed’s spokeswoman Anne Torres said the administration didn’t know about “Who Told You That You Are Naked?” until employees came forward with complaints last week. In addition to suspending Cochran, Reed’s office has now opened an investigation to determine whether the chief discriminated against employees.

Cochran has been ordered to undergo sensitivity training and barred from distributing copies of the book on city property after a number of firefighters said they received them in the workplace, Torres said.

Reed said he was “deeply disturbed” by the sentiments Cochran expressed in his book and will “not tolerate discrimination of any kind” in his administration.

“I want to be clear that the material in Chief Cochran’s book is not representative of my personal beliefs, and is inconsistent with the administration’s work to make Atlanta a more welcoming city for all of her citizens — regardless of their sexual orientation, gender, race and religious beliefs,” Reed said in a statement on Monday.

In a copy of the book obtained by Channel 2 Actions News, Cochran wrote that his “job description” is to cultivate the department’s culture “for the glory of God,” as well as to focus on the mission of saving lives and property.

 

And in passages about sexual relationships, he wrote that “since God made sex for procreation, he only intended it to be between a man and a woman.” He continued, saying that those who live without God’s purpose “pursue sexual fulfillment through multiple partners, with the opposite sex, same sex and sex outside of marriage and many other vile, vulgar and inappropriate ways.”

He later defined terms such as “uncleanness” as: “whatever is opposite of purity; including sodomy, homosexuality, lesbianism, pederasty, bestiality, and all other forms of sexual perversion.”

District 6 Councilmember Alex Wan, who is openly gay, said he’s concerned Cochran’s book could create a hostile work environment. He and others say while Cochran is free to express his personal views, they should be left outside the office.

 Cochran, who is also a deacon at Elizabeth Baptist Church in Atlanta needs to decide if he wants to be a preacher or a fire chief.  He cannot be both.  Religion has no place in governmental agencies.  None.