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Firefighter could get fired for saying gay kid in viral photo should be ‘cured’
A firefighter could get fired for homophobic comments he made about the 13-year-old crying gay kid whose photo went viral.
Guy Estergall, who has worked as a fireman for 26 years, saw the Humans of New York photo on his Facebook like much of the rest of the world last week.
The young boy in the photo said: ‘I’m homosexual and I’m afraid about why my future will be and that people won’t like me’.
And while many of the 60,000 comments were supportive, including Hillary Clinton and Ellen DeGeneres, one was not.
“I’m homosexual and I’m afraid about what my future will be and that people won’t like me.”
Posted by Humans of New York on Friday, 3 July 2015
‘The kid needs psychiatric help, he’s delusional,’ wrote Estergall. ‘We need to find a cure for his kid!’
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports how he got into a heated discussion on the Facebook page, claiming the ‘overwhelming majority’ of pedophiles are gay.
‘You’re mentally ill just like the kid and the rest of the homosexuals and their supporters,’ he said.
The Cleveland Fire Department is now investigating Estergall’s comments to see if they violated their social media policy. A spokesperson said those types of statements are ‘unacceptable’. The investigation will see whether Estergall’s role as a public servant is affected by his views.
Estergall has defended his comments, saying his ‘opinion’ that all LGBTI people have mental disabilities does not affect his work.
‘Do you think I go into a fire and say, “excuse me, what’s your sexual orientation? Seriously?” he said. ‘I couldn’t care less about someone’s sexual orientation. It means about as much to me as someone’s eye color or whether they have five fingers on their left hand. It means the same to me when I’m at work.’
He added: ‘Right or wrong is irrelevant. It’s an opinion that differs from what’s popular at the moment and people are trying to take my livelihood from me.’
Estergall has not been formally reprimanded and continues to carry out his regular duties.
The post Firefighter could get fired for saying gay kid in viral photo should be ‘cured’ appeared first on Gay Star News.
Joe Morgan
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