Bradenton.com – By Mitch Stacy – Associated Press
Largo, Fla. – Impassioned speeches from dozens of supporters failed to sway city commissioners as they finalized the firing early Saturday of the city manager who is seeking a sex change operation.
Following a six-hour hearing, commissioners rubber-stamped the 5-2 vote they made last month to fire Steve Stanton after his announcement that he planned a new life as a woman but wanted to keep his job running this city of 76,000 residents west of Tampa.
“I was optimistic, but I knew it would be very difficult to slow down the train,” Stanton said following the vote, which came just after midnight. He said he hasn’t decided yet whether to sue the city.
Commissioners contended Stanton was being fired because they lost confidence in him and the disruption caused by his announcement, not because he wants to be a woman.
“I think we’re pretty well convinced,” Commissioner Gay Gentry said before the vote. “You have to believe us, you have to trust us, it is not about transgenderism.”