Floridian: Thus saith the Lord...?

God was in Largo last Tuesday. He dropped by City Hall, where 500 people had gathered to talk about the city manager.

Steve Stanton had led Largo for 14 years. A week earlier, he had gone public with his plans to become a woman. The City Commission had called a special hearing to see if he should be fired.

All night, even before the meeting started, people invoked God, asking him for help, quoting his book. They said they knew what he would want. They said they knew what his son would do.

"Are you a Christian?" Ellen McFarland asked two women sitting on a bench outside City Hall.

"Well, I'm a born again," McFarland said. "And the Bible's pretty clear about all this. Do you believe Satan's alive and well on this Earth?"

"Well he is. I know he is," McFarland said. "That's why I always feel uncomfortable around gay people. Because they're living a life that's wrong."

The women looked at each other, then at McFarland. God, they said, had given them the courage to come out as lesbians. They'd been a couple for 10 years.

"When you're born a boy, that's the way you are," Jean Clements said outside before the meeting. "I just feel God must have intended this person to be a man."

About five minutes into the meeting, an elderly man in the front row interrupted the mayor. "We forgot to salute the flag," he said. "We forgot to pray."

Commissioner Gay Gentry cleared her throat and leaned into her microphone. "Almighty God," she began.

"We ask tonight for your guidance, your wisdom and patience. Open our eyes to the needs of our community and the citizens we're elected to serve."

Gentry told the city manager she had been praying for him. Later, she would vote to fire him.

"My mom always told me to forget the Old Testament. 'That was written by a bunch of angry old men,' she said. 'Read the red words,' she told me. 'That's the part Jesus said.' "

Butler said his friend had a baby that was born "of indeterminate gender." His nephew, he said, "is like that too."

"God doesn't make mistakes," Butler said. "He gives us the grace to deal with all our pain."

"Steve Stanton lacks the wisdom to accept the gender God gave him at birth. You need to vote to terminate him." - Thomas Beckwith

"I beg you not to give in to people whose moral code requires them to be cruel in the name of God. I plead with you not to make a decision based on ignorance. The right thing here is not to kick out Mr. Stanton, but to extend him a hand." - Rick Pettey

"All the great things Largo has to offer will be overshadowed by this issue. One person's future is not worth an entire city. The eyes of America are on us tonight. Do what's right." - the Rev. Charlie Martin, First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks

"Choose to honor who he is as a person, who he chooses to be and present to this world. . . . We can't all understand it. But the only other option is severe discrimination based on misunderstanding." - the Rev. Abhi Janamanchi, Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater

"As a Christian and a lesbian, I understand what discrimination feels like. I also know a lot of forgiveness is possible. If his personal life hasn't affected his job performance, that's what you need to make your decision on." - Eunice Fisher

"We have strayed from the original perfection God created us in. . . . Mr. Stanton, God did not make a mistake when he brought you into this world as a man." - Robert Dixon

"I wanted to quote the story of Jesus leading the mob to come take someone's job. But I couldn't find that passage in the Bible." - Nadine Smith

"The Bible has taught me to love him, and I do. But demons are possessing his mind." - Charles Erikson

Commissioners voted 5-2 to fire Stanton. After the meeting, he said he'd spent that morning in an empty church.

Stanton's mother was Jewish, his father Protestant. He goes to services at an Episcopal church but wouldn't say what kind of church he was in that morning.

"Okay, the day of judgment is here. I just wanted to check in," Stanton said he told God. "I knew I'd be walking through the gates of Hell through this. But I know you want me to go forward with this plan."

Not "Why am I transgendered?" or "Why did you do this to me?" or even "Why do they want to fire me for wanting to be who I am?"

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Comments on this article

by Charlie	03/04/07 02:46 PM
I am amazed and annoyed at the propensity of people to impose their morals and values on others. Stanton's gender orientation is his choice and no one else's business. His stellar record as Largo's City Manager should be the public's only concenrn.

by kerrie	03/04/07 06:17 AM
I hope they fire Stanton because of this religious claptrap. And I hope s/he then sues and challenges them to prove, in court of law, that the reason for firing exists. If Largo cannot PROVE the existence of a god, by law, Largo is wrong.

by mavis	03/04/07 06:10 AM
Stanton's mother was Jewish!

by Frank	03/04/07 05:48 AM
Sure, it is a shock to hear someone announce they need to change their sex. It is a rare condition. But, how much time did the City Commissioners spend reading the scientific literature on this subject? Rush to Judgement.

by Lee	03/04/07 05:21 AM
One of the toughest questions we ask as Christians is why God does what He does. Why does He take an innocent child from us so early in life? God moved in the Largo meeting to show His displeasure with with the world deviating from His perfect plan.

by Fish	03/04/07 05:12 AM
I love you Jesus but PLEASE save me from your followers!!!!

by Matt	03/04/07 04:42 AM
Religion should not dictate whether an employee of the city should be fired or not. Stanton has been a victim of religious discrimination.

by Logan	03/04/07 03:05 AM
maybe religion is the opiate of the blind, maybe not. but i'm sure a god, the GOD, who can forgive anyone would certainly pass no judgment on someone like Mr. Stanton. so how come His followers will easily cast him to hell before He would even do so?

by Tina	03/04/07 03:01 AM
God is what is good. A family man must remain a family man above all else. He is a public leader. Other Transexuals may learn of his ordeal and choose their gender before taking a spouse and making children. He is doing society good by being fired.

by Josh	03/04/07 12:49 AM
I'm not going to say I know the mind of God, but switching gender is against what most feel is morally right and against what is natural. Though, I don't think God would have been too pleased if Adam asked to switch to being a girl.

by melis	03/03/07 10:40 PM
By the way....would you mind not mocking my religion?? oh... wait a second, I forgot just about the only thing left in this country we CAN mock is Christ and his followers. hope your point wasn't hypocrisy, cuz everyone's a hypocrit.

by Tim	03/03/07 10:34 PM
Tey're right: God doesn't make mistakes. He DOES, however, place challenges in all of our lives that we may use to make ourselves better people. That is what this is for Susan Stanton one of those challenges. And it will make her a better person.

by melis	03/03/07 10:29 PM
how come you get a whole page, here, and I get 250 characters????

by David	03/03/07 08:55 PM
Why is it that people who cannot program a vcr can tell me the answers to all the mysteries of the universe. They have no clue who what quantum physics is but know what god is thinking. I am still convinced that Jesus is Santa Claus for adults.

by Lori	03/03/07 08:38 PM
Well god, haven't heard about this but I think he or she should not be a City Manager. Get a job selling nylon's in a department store. God didn't make you this way you made your self this way. Go talk to someone maybe you need help, lay on a couch!

by David	03/03/07 08:15 PM
This article is inflammatory. It is evident the disrespect the author has for Christians and our beliefs as the statements begin with reference to "the big guy" and that he "dropped by" this difficult meeting. I am appalled but not surprised.

by Bob	03/03/07 08:07 PM
What is stopping Stanton from being a city manager somewhere else after his transgender operation? I don't see where City Manager of Largo, or any other city, has to be a lifetime commitment from either side. Go start over elsewhere!

by Lisa	03/03/07 08:03 PM
Whatever our religion or value system. There is a common thread of whats right. If he was not a family man I would have supported him 100%. When he married and had a child he was old enough to know he was confused.

by Jim	03/03/07 07:45 PM
OK, I get it. The St Pete Times hates Christians and loves to stir animosity toward the Christian faith. Why can we not consider that the Stanton decision was about something other than faith It is about a person's integrity and ability to do a job

Thus saith the Lord...?

Amid heated debate, as some argued the Almighty wanted a man to be fired, God did not speak in a still, small voice.