Comments on United We Stand (Kentucky's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender News): Stupid faggot..... personal feelings or profession...

I agree it is possible to separate!

2010-04-02T22:58:50.603-04:00

I agree it is possible to separate!

I think it is possible to separate but often it is...

2009-06-21T12:39:27.926-04:00

I think it is possible to separate but often it is not our sensitivity to it but the directors of companies that matter!

Artezanal

MissPrime, social workers already undergo huge amo...

2009-05-29T07:51:06.395-04:00

MissPrime, social workers already undergo huge amounts of sensitivity training due to their profession and its requirements. This woman has already had the training and yet this still came out of her mouth along with the threat to keep him away from her kids by pulling strings.

No, he has no legal right to see the children, but what if she were to take it a step further by seeking legal recourse to keep her ex-husband from having the kids at his brothers???? Where is the line drawn???

Were she working for the Commonwealth in any other capacity, I would agree with you, but her position requires many extra degrees of "sensitivity".

:) I certainly don't feel powerless! I apologize ...

2009-05-28T14:30:21.662-04:00

:) I certainly don't feel powerless!

I apologize if that's all you took from my post.

I've worked very hard to obtain the position I currently hold -- and will continue to fight for equality in the Commonwealth.

Brother / Brother-in-law --- regardless, I feel there is more to the story.

Simply put, unless she specifically uses insider knowledge in an illegal manner or manipulates the system, I don't see how it would be considered against policy.

Unfortunately, there is no law against stupidity, anger or poor wording.

Hopefully, the Commonwealth WILL recognize that sensitivity training should be mandatory -- but even so, that is unlikely to prevent certain folks from saying offensive statements to others, especially family, in the heat of a family dispute.

:)

I appreciate your interest in the topic and I hope we can continue to raise awareness in our communities for equality for ALL citizens of the Commonwealth.

Bottom line is this woman may raise her children a...

2009-05-28T13:31:34.659-04:00

Bottom line is this woman may raise her children as she wants to and does not have to allow her gay in-laws to visit them. it is her right as a mother even if we do not agree with it.

MissPrime...hmmmm...I understand your position cle...

2009-05-28T09:42:53.813-04:00

MissPrime...hmmmm...I understand your position clearly and yes you are valid in wanting to know the full story. That said, it was her brother in law, not her brother. It is also sad that you have been in the "system" so long that you also feel powerless. It is not illegal. Meditate on that statement sister, please.

As frustrating as it is to hear bigoted remarks, i...

2009-05-28T09:23:27.148-04:00

As frustrating as it is to hear bigoted remarks, if the remarks were made on a personal phone, I don't see that anything illegal has occurred.

As a lesbian ... and an employee of the Commonwealth, although we ~should~ represent honesty, integrity, compassion, etc. -- it certainly isn't insisted by law.

State employees are not held to any higher moral standard -- we simply cannot use state funds for any reason other than the purpose of our job.

Had the employee used facilities owned by the state, said this publicly, etc. -- then there would certainly be ethical implications.

However, regardless of one's personal views, we have yet to legally find reason to fire anyone with a McCain/Palin bumpersticker --- OR ... an Obama/Biden one. :)

Should we implement sensitivity training? I would think so, obviously -- but perhaps we need a lesson on acceptance and compassion across the board, not merely LGBT issues.

However, as she was referring to her brother, it seems similar to a cranky family feud and petty name calling (albeit very offensive, it seems no different than calling one's sister a 'wh*re' or 'b*tch', none of which we seem to even notice these days -- but, to me, just as demeaning and offensive.

The argument of using the system to prevent her brother from seeing children was likely a hot-headed statement to make, but unfortunately, we only have one side of the issue. Technically, there is no legal reason that the brother SHOULD have a right to see her children if she deems it unwise.

I would prefer to hear the whole story ... why she was upset ... what the brother said prior ... and why she was upset enough to use such offensive language before I launched into a witch hunt to terminate her employment.

Otherwise, wouldn't I be raving angrily, and no different than she?

So, in this matter...

Distasteful? Yes.

Insulting and unfortunate? Yes.

Illegal? No.

I'm more disturbed by the threat of using the syst...

2009-05-28T08:43:15.263-04:00

I'm more disturbed by the threat of using the system against her family due to her inside knowledge of how the system works than I am the actual slur. This speaks of a tendency to abuse power from a position of trust. I think this should be the main issue at hand b/c bigots will exist forever and always against something. Evolution will simply have to deal with that, however dealing with an abusive person in the system is not beyond the power of the state. The current best one can hope to do against a bigot is to teach tolerance or the ability to simply keep quiet.

I'm sorry but I do not agree with the comment abov...

2009-05-28T08:03:03.176-04:00

I'm sorry but I do not agree with the comment above but do agree with the 1st comment that governemtn employee should be held to higher standards.

The Social Worker in this matter is going against ...

2009-05-28T07:02:57.129-04:00

The Social Worker in this matter is going against her professional code of ethics. As a social worker I know at times it is difficult to seperate personal from professional. But alas it is necessary. Here in the Commonwealth there is no seperation between church and state so these issues bleed over...the fact that these two individuals are related fo "muddy the waters".

I don't care what happened the Commonwealth of Ken...

2009-05-28T01:39:57.607-04:00

I don't care what happened the Commonwealth of Kentucky should terminate this person I see no way she can keep her person views out of her work!

I would have to say that this government employee ...

2009-05-27T22:05:36.306-04:00

I would have to say that this government employee should be penalized in some form. It is absolutely ridiculous that anyone, especially government employees, should act in this way. I really hope that the plantiff gets to see justice served and this government employee removed from position.

Very good post!!!

2009-05-27T19:45:00.387-04:00

Very good post!!!

As a former employee of the Cabinet for Health and...

2009-05-27T19:04:16.534-04:00

As a former employee of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, in the Protection and Permancy division (aka Child Protective Services) I am appalled that an employee in the social work field would be so callous and homophobic. At the same time, I am also not entirely surprised.

I'm not so much concerned about her calling him a faggot on her personal cell as I am about her using her knowledge of the court system to prevent her children from seeing her uncle. If she knew Thing One about the courts (particularly as it pertains to matters of child welfare), she would know you can't legally bar a man from seeing family members unless there are safety concerns. Sure, she can personally refuse, but legally there is nothing harassing or dangerous about being a gay uncle. She would be hard-pressed to find a judge to say otherwise.

This woman is an idiot for saying such a thing, and she makes me ashamed to be a former employee of the Cabinet. She also brings shame to herself and the occupation of social work as a whole. I'm offended, as a social worker, to think I share a common bond with her.

To Nichole: please don't generalize government employees. Some of them are really nice people who really want to help people, and don't think of themselves as superior to their clients or the general population in any way.

To Jessica: I agree that her outburst calls into question her ability to work with clients. Obviously she has some sort of homophobia, and although it's a less common, some social service clients are LGBT. I'm not sure what function she serves as a CPS worker, but I would hate to think she would discriminate against placing a child into a same-sex foster family, or provide less-than-equal services to a LGBT client.

Working for the government is a valid argument, bu...

2009-05-27T16:57:38.328-04:00

Working for the government is a valid argument, but my biggest concern is that this woman is a social worker. Her profession requires more tolerance and compassion than almost any other profession, and her behavior in this situation should absolutely call her ability to perform her job into question. On top of that, she has READY ACCESS to the statistics involving homosexual men and molestation: less than 1% of ALL child molestation cases involve a gay man, most are committed by heterosexual men. The fact that she did it on the government dime is the icing on the cake and comparable to the state employee fired for visiting pornographic websites at work.

The State of Kentucky should encourage this woman to follow a new career path....

My perception of government employees of any level...

2009-05-27T16:13:42.981-04:00

My perception of government employees of any level are that they act as if they are above all others and treat people as inferior. Have you ever spoken to an IRS agent???? Yeah, anyway, there should be a higher standard of operation when it comes to government employees. We are all people and should be treated well despite one's personal opinion of race, religion, color or sexual orientation. Shame on that employee for making that derogatory remark!

I find it disturbing that someone whose job it is ...

2009-05-27T15:56:19.493-04:00

I find it disturbing that someone whose job it is to protect the solidity of Kentucky's families will so quickly stoop to using her children as a weapon. And the threat of using her knowledge of "the system" to cause hurt is completely unprofessional.

Kudos to the "plantiff" in identifying this grey a...

2009-05-27T15:33:56.212-04:00

Kudos to the "plantiff" in identifying this grey area to the public. The Commonweath of Kentucky should step up and take sort of action, at *the very least* implementing sensitivity training of some sort. I can't believe how goverment and businesses are so scared of the reprecussions (lawsuits, etc) in firing or getting rid of someone.

Unfortunately, the familial relationship between t...

2009-05-27T15:16:32.998-04:00

Unfortunately, the familial relationship between these two significantly muddies the issue.

I agree that state employees should conduct themselves civilly at all times with all citizens, and I particularly think the state has a LONG way to go in terms of protecting its gay citizens. And although I appreciate this gentleman's outrage at having been slurred, I don't think this particular episode is one that the Kentucky Equality Federation needs to engage on.

Homophobes will simply chalk it up to "family feuding", rendering the larger issue of systemic homophobia moot. And really, it can't be too difficult to find other, equally egregious examples of discrimination in the system, can it?

I agree with said "Plaintiff's" concerns, wholehea...

2009-05-27T14:59:52.983-04:00

I agree with said "Plaintiff's" concerns, wholeheartedly. Whether in a business/professional setting or otherwise, names of demeaning manner are harmful and contagious. If nothing will ever be done to prevent this type of misconduct, then you better hang on...because our youth are not far behind from carrying on these disgusting habits and passing them on to their own offspring.

This person should be fired without question becau...

2009-05-27T14:58:54.341-04:00

This person should be fired without question because when you work for the government you should be held to a higher standard.