LATTA, S.C. (AP) — When openly gay police chief Crystal
Moore was fired by a mayor who condemned her lifestyle as
"questionable," she feared her two decade career in law enforcement in
this town was over.
Then, this conservative, small town rebelled.
The
people of Latta, who voted overwhelmingly for a state amendment banning
gay marriage eight years ago, turned against the mayor, stripped him of
his powers and the town council rehired Moore. They said her dedication
to the town mattered more than her sexual orientation.
Residents
remembered Moore’s civic spirit from as far back as 1989, when Hurricane
Hugo tore through Latta. She was a high school student working part
time as a police dispatcher, and helped cut downed tree limbs to clean
up the debris. This February, when an ice storm crippled the town and
left it without power for days, Moore piled her officers in her SUV and
checked on as many people as she could.
"That’s Crystal. All she
does is help people. I don’t get why he fired her. Maybe it’s the
ignorant people who talk the loudest. She was the same great Crystal
yesterday as she is today, and she’ll be the same person tomorrow," said
lifelong Latta resident Dottie Walters.
Mayor Earl Bullard
vehemently denied that he fired Moore because she was gay. Instead, he
said she was dismissed for "sheer insubordination" during the three
months he was her boss.
Moore said she hadn’t received a single
reprimand during her career until Bullard presented her with seven the
day she was fired in April. Word of her termination spread fast in this
tobacco hub of about 1,400 people, just off Interstate 95. About two
dozen people gathered at her office in support on the day she was let
go.
The support for Moore grew when Town Councilman Jarett Taylor
started secretly recording his conversations with the mayor, which is
legal in South Carolina. Taylor said he learned not to trust the mayor
because he would tell him something, and later deny he ever said it.
In
a conversation released to reporters after Moore was fired, the mayor
said: "I’d much rather have
somebody who drank and drank too much
taking care of my child than I had somebody whose lifestyle is
questionable around children, because that ain’t the damn way it’s
supposed to be."
Bullard, who has avoided reporters for much of
the past three months, told The Associated Press that was him on the
tape. He offered no apologies.
"I don’t like the homosexual ways
portrayed in front of children," Bullard told AP by telephone Thursday.
"You can’t explain to a 5-year-old why another child has two mommies or
two daddies."
Since the story made headlines, Bullard said he had received a stack of hate mail that was "probably
an inch-and-a-half thick."
Within
days of Moore’s termination, the town council passed a vote of
confidence in her. They also set up an election that would strip the
mayor of his power and give them more authority, including the ability
to hire the police chief.
Moore, who played softball at Latta High
School, walked up and down the streets for days before the vote,
explaining her side of the story and calling for change. Last month, 69
percent of 475 voters approved of taking the mayor’s power away. Now
essentially a figurehead, it’s not clear what he is going to do next. He
ran unopposed in 2013 and still has three years left on his term.
When
Moore returned to work June 30, people honked their car horns and gave
her thumbs up as she drove around in her police SUV, according to
television reports. When an AP reporter rode around with her recently,
nearly everyone waved as she drove by.
"Crystal is a good chief
and she loves this town," said Taylor, the councilman. "It made me proud
of my town to see everybody come out for her the way they did."
Latta
is a blink-and-you-miss-it town that started as a train depot and grew
into a tobacco hub. Many people pass it on their way to Myrtle Beach,
which is about 50 miles away. The only rainbow in town is on the
Carolina Kidz daycare center.
Moore’s firing turned her into an
unlikely activist. Before, she would bring her partner to civic
festivals, but avoided gay pride events because she didn’t want to draw
attention to herself.
Now she travels about once a week to talk to
gay groups and encourage laws to stop discrimination against
homosexuals. South Carolina does not have a statewide ban on firing
people because of their sexual orientation.
"I think things are going to change, like they did in the civil rights movement," Moore said.

State
unemployment officials sided with Moore, voting she was fired without
cause and eligible for back pay and benefits for the two months she
didn’t have a job.
The fight left Moore with nearly $20,000 in
legal bills. About $8,000 has been pledged from people through a
Facebook site, but that still leaves a lot of debt for someone who makes
less than $40,000 a year running a 10-officer department.
So the town is arranging a yet-to-be determined fundraiser, Moore said.
"It’s just remarkable," she said. "I can’t ever thank this place enough."