Pomeroy Ohio Says 'No' To Homophobic Mayor

Mayor Mary McAngus is the 78-year-old recently elected mayor of Pomeroy, Ohio. Well, to be fair, I should say she was the recently elected mayor, because Mary McAngus resigned last weekend after the town uproar caused over her choice of words when talking about a village police officer.

Queer.

McAngus used the word queer and other offensive slurs when talking about Officer Kyle Calendine—who was hired as a part-time officer last fall—and complained to anyone and everyone who would listen about his partner visiting him at the police station, even though other police spouses, of the heterosexual variety, often stop by. Police Chief Mark Proffitt instantly stood up for Calendine, calling the mayor’s behavior offensive, and, well, kind of illegal, perhaps opening up the town to a lawsuit.

McAngus, who has been in office just weeks, suddenly isn’t talking, as happens to most bigots when they’re exposed, but Kyle Calendine called the mayor’s language and attitude disappointing: “It’s disappointing because, you know, she’s the mayor. It makes it hard coming to work knowing that someone’s running you into the ground like that.”

Proffitt submitted a six-page sworn statement, warning the council that the mayor’s behavior could get the village of 2,000 residents sued. He says McAngus called him into her office two weeks after Calendine was hired, said she’d heard “that Kyle was a queer” and asked what the chief was going to do about it. Nothing, he replied, because that would be discrimination.

“She stated ‘I don’t like a Queer working for the Village, I might be old-fashioned, but I don’t like it.’  ” Proffitt wrote in the statement.

Old-fashioned? Must be how they say bigoted in Pomeroy. Old-fashioned also meant that she wasn’t going to stop. She continued making crude comments about Calendine and his partner to police department employees. She asked another newly hired officer if he knew that Calendine was gay and whether that bothered him; when the officer said no, she asked him if he, too, was gay, and smiled and stared at him until the uncomfortable officer said he had to get back to work. So, Little Old Bigot Mary McAngus is also a bully, it seems. Not old-fashioned, just filled with hatred.

Pomeroy Village Administrator Paul Hellman said that, while meeting with McAngus, “Mary began telling me that we had a gay guy working in the police department and she had to run off Kyle’s boyfriend.”

The interesting thing is, that Mary McAngus was involved in hiring Kyle Calendine, but turned on him afterwards, possibly because she then learned he was gay. Seems he was the perfect man for the job until she found out he had a boyfriend.

Mary McAngus resigned on February 10.

Kyle Calendine called it a huge weight off his shoulders: “It was a big sigh of relief to know that the actions were no longer going to be happening here at the office. That I could now work without the added stress, and it felt great.”

Funny, isn’t it, though, the little town of Pomeroy, Ohio, fights discrimination as soon as it begins. Folks there stood up for the victim, and against the bigoted bully, and saw the mayor out of her job.

America, why not take the small town example and use it nationwide? Why not have everyone stand up for those people, for whatever reason, who are being discriminated against and demand that it be stopped; demand that the bigots and bullies be removed from their jobs.

If Pomeroy can do it ….

Police chief: Mayor’s gay slurs against Pomeroy officer invite suit

Mayor Resigns after Discrimination Allegations