Latta town council rehires lesbian police chief

Crystal Moore has been rehired

This just came in and it is a must post. Crystal Moore has been rehired as Latta, SC's police chief:

Latta Town Council met Friday at a special meeting where they voted to rehire an employee its mayor fired. The meeting was the first since Tuesday's special referendum where residents voted to change the way the town's government works, striping some powers from the mayor.

Council unanimously  voted (6-0) to rehire previously fired Latta Police Chief Crystal Moore. Mayor Earl Bullard, who originally fired Moore, was not at the town council meeting on Friday evening. After she was re-hired, Moore was sworn in around 7:30 pm.

"Thank you for your hard work and dedication. I will see y'all on the streets,"  Moore told the town council and some residents at the meeting after she was sworn in.

 . . . The vote from Tuesday was certified on Friday afternoon and now, hiring and firing of key positions are done by the council and not by the mayor.

Earlier this week, Bullard hired a replacement police chief, Freddie Davis. However, on Friday evening, before re-hiring Moore, the town council voted that Davis' contract was not valid and asked him to step down as police chief The town council also voted 6-0 to expunge 7 reprimands from Moore's record. Those reprimands, which were all delivered to Moore on her firing day by Bullard, were the reason Bullard gave for firing her.

 Moore was appointed police chief before being fired by Bullard. The speculation was that Bullard fired her because she was lesbian. Bullard denied this, but a taped conversation in which he made rude comments regarding the lgbt community and children contradicted his claim. Since that time, Bullard and the Latta town council have been feuding over his actions

Related post:

Was a SC police chief fired because she is lesbian? The proof is in the mayor's statements

Know Your LGBT History- 'Night Warning'

The motion picture Night Warning (1982) is from the time when movies were gritty instead of stylized pulp and it is a surprisingly good little thriller. First, take a look at the trailer:

I should reveal that the trailer is extremely deceptive. The plot involves Jimmy McNichol portraying a high school student who lives with his aunt (portrayed by the late Oscar-nominated actress Susan Tyrell in one her infamously throw all caution to the wind performances). She has been taking care of him ever since an ugly auto accident took the life of his parents when he was an infant. Things begin to get strange when McNichol, a basketball star at his high school, has the possibility of receiving a scholarship to college. Needless to say, his aunt is furious because she doesn't want him to leave.

In fact the possibility of him leaving makes her so screwy that she tries to seduce the television repair man and ends up murdering him when he turns her down. Claiming that he tried to rape her, Tyrell is backed by McNichol who came in right after the murder. As the motion picture continues, Tyrell continues to become more unhinged.

However, for the purpose of this blog, let's talk about the policeman investigating the murder. Detective Joe Carson (portrayed with venomous glee by Bo Svenson) is right to believe that there is more to the story. However, his conclusions are not only wrong, but also fueled by a vicious degree of homophobia. At first, he accuses Tyrell of being a lesbian. Then, after he discovers that the murder victim and McNichols' coach were lovers, he suspects that McNichol was involved in a gay love triangle and subsequently committed the murder himself. Oh and he also forces McNichol's coach to resign in an ugly scene.

To say that Carson is homophobic is an understatement. His dialogue is frequently peppered with anti-gay slurs and regardless of the fact that another policeman attempts to convince him of another theory involving the murder, he is bound and determined to work the gay angle.

As the movie continues, Tyrell takes even more drastic steps to keep McNichol at home and we find out that her mental state has never really been secure. Needless to say as the movie reaches its climax, she begins to get a little "knife happy" (as all unhinged women did in thrillers back in those days). Night Warning reaches its crescendo as we find out unsettling things about the auto accident which orphaned McNichol as well as his aunt's relationship with him.  Of course there is the requisite bloody fight at the end, but just when you think its over, Night Warning throws a curve at you.

Detective Carson's homophobia, which was lurking throughout the movie, fuels an explosive climax which will leave you both sad and breathless at the same time. This movie is offered in its entirety on youtube so what the hell, here it is under its other name Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker. But is is NSFW:



Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

'Religious leaders spooked about Obama's pending LGBT executive order' & other Friday midday news briefs

Editor's note - Unfortunately, a mishap with my home computer kept me from publishing a morning post today. I hope to take care of it when I get home via a little history erasing (okay a lot of history erasing) and rebooting several programs. This mishap took place at a bad time because I am super psyched about this afternoon's edition of "Know Your LGBT History." It will be posted come hell or high water because I've been waiting for almost a week to put it out. But on to today's news briefs:

140 Religious Leaders Petition For Exemption From Obama’s Pending LGBT Executive Order - Oh come on, guys!

Why I Outed Gay Republicans - A good friend of mine, Michael Rogers, reminisces about the justifiable chaos he caused by outing gay Republicans and I totally agree with his reasoning.  

For NC banquet, FRC assembles one of most anti-gay crews imaginable - For a North Carolina banquet, the Family Research Council is assembling a homophobic version of the "Legion of Doom" If there is a God, the entire wait staff will be gay folks.  

Majority Believe Marriage Equality And Religious Liberty Are Perfectly Compatible - Yet more proof that those who are the loudest about this issue aren't necessarily correct. They just know how to boggart.

  Ben Carson Explains How Gay Marriage Is A Marxist Plot To Impose The 'New World Order' - See post above this one.