Fire-Chief Fired

On Tuesday, January 06, Atlanta’s Fire Chief, Kelvin Cochran was fired after more than 34 years of distinguished service as a fireman. According to Atlanta Mayor, Kasim Reed, Cochran was fired because of sentiments he expressed in a book.

The Mayor told reporters Cochran was ousted because of poor judgment. The mayor accused the chief of not getting permission to write the book, a charge Cochran denies.

The Mayor also alleged Cochran distributed the book to members of the fire department. Cochran readily admits that he gave copies of the book to close associates within the department. It should be noted that the individual who initially complained about the book did not receive a copy from the fire chief.

Sources in Atlanta City Hall told a local television station that Cochran was going to be fired, not for writing the book, but because he did not go through proper channels to write it in the first place.

According to the Mayor, “Not one time during the course of preparing this book did the chief ever think it was appropriate to have a conversation with me.” However, the former fire chief told reporters he received permission from the city's Ethics Department to write the book and in fact he sent a copy to the Mayor's Office, giving it to the Mayor's assistant.

Mayor Reed, surrounded by members of his administration, including city officials, some who are part of the LGBT community, said he fired Cochran for bad judgment, not for writing the book which calls homosexuality a perversion. Interestingly, a city investigation determined the fire chief had not discriminated against LGBT employees by writing his book.

The book, Who Told You That You Were Naked (2013), was really written for Chief Cochran’s Sunday School class. Cochran is a deacon, a Sunday School teacher and Bible study leader at Atlanta’s Elizabeth Baptist Church. In the book, aimed at helping Christian men overcome past sins, Cochran expressed his belief that sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman is sinful.

Cochran used about half a page of his 160-page book to refer to homosexuality as “vile, vulgar and inappropriate” behavior. He shared a few copies of his book with firemen colleagues who shared his worldview. About three members of staff, who did not share his worldview, also received copies. One fireman, who was not given a copy of the book, was reading it and noticed Chief Cochran’s description of persons who chose the gay lifestyle.

The allegedly offensive lines were shared with some in city administration who were sympathetic to the gay lifestyle. Following this, Chief Cochran was suspended without pay for one month. He was also instructed to attend a course in sensitivity training. At the end of his no-pay suspension, he was fired.

Interestingly, the Mayor was praised for dismissing Chief Cochran by openly homosexual councilman Alex Wan. Wan said, “...when you’re a city employee, and your thoughts, beliefs and opinions are different from the city’s, you have to check them at the door.”

Wan’s view is the epitome of bigotry. And so is The New York Times, which said it doesn't matter if Chief Cochran was innocent. That's not the point, they argued Tuesday in a scathing editorial titled, God, Gays and the Atlanta Fire Department – “It should not matter that the investigation found no evidence that Mr. Cochran had mistreated gays or lesbians."

The editorial went on to say, "His position as a high-level public servant makes his remarks especially problematic, and requires that he be held to a different standard. If he wants to work as a public official, however, he may not foist his religious views on other city employees who have the right to a boss who does not speak of them as second-class citizens."

Where in this situation did Chief Cochran even attempt “to foist his religious views on other employees”? What crime did Chief Cochran commit to even deserve a one-month-no-pay suspension? Why should this decorated firefighter be subjected to this array of bigotry and ‘religiophobic’ rhetoric?

In one interview, Chief Cochran said, “...the LGBT members of our community have a right to be able to express their views and convictions about sexuality and deserve to be respected for their position without hate or discrimination. But Christians also have a right to express our belief regarding our faith and be respected for our position without hate and without discrimination. In the United States, no one should be vilified, hated or discriminated against for expressing their beliefs.”

Did I hear an AMEN for that? Personally, I believe if Chief Cochran were gay and similarly expressed an opinion about persons who did not share his worldview, he would be still employed as Atlanta’s Fire Chief.