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Texas County Official’s Job In Jeopardy Due To Sexual Orientation

Jim Burroway

April 2nd, 2008

Justin NicholsAccording to the Dallas Morning News, Justin Nichols is to face an April 15 public hearing before the Collin County Commissioners Court, to discuss his status as coordinator of the county’s teen court program.

Justin is currently running as an openly gay city council candidate for the city of Plano, a Dallas suburb. The Dallas Voice covered the historic race of Plano’s first ever gay candidate. That soon led to anonymous attack emails being sent to Collin County commissioners and other political activists accusing him of being a child molester. That led an unnamed commissioner to call a hearing to determine Nichol’s fate.

Many anti-gay extremists claim that gays are far more likely to sexually abuse children on average. This despite evidence to the contrary. In Nichols’ case, there has not been any allegations brought forward whatsoever — no accusers, no arraignment, charges, no arrest, no trial. And yet Nichols will have to stand before the Commissioners Court and defend his job.

Update: Justin’s hearing before the Commission was canceled. But it doesn’t mean he’s off the hook:

While Mr. Nichols has requested that any discussions related to his job take place in public, the panel has the option of meeting in private about pending litigation, county officials said. The case of Mr. Nichols, who said he has retained legal counsel, could fit that description.

Also, the county had scheduled a job evaluation with Justin on Tuesday, but they canceled the appointment that morning.

Comments

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Jason D
April 2nd, 2008 | LINK

would this not qualify as slander/libel — the fact that they’re taking these allegations seriously considering there is no evidence?

Johno
April 2nd, 2008 | LINK

He should sue, absolutely. Though he probably won’t if it will jeopardize his political hopes. This story makes me nauseous.

On a side note, I just wanted to say thank you very much, BTB, for the Testing the Premise article and for keeping it and other vital information linked on the front page. I have linked to these articles more times than I can count in various discussions.

bananie
April 2nd, 2008 | LINK

“Federal law does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, said Stacey L. Sobel, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in issues related to and advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.”

this is absolutely frightening to me.

Joel
April 2nd, 2008 | LINK

“Commissioners were initially slated to discuss the issue privately, but Mr. Nichols requested the proceeding take place in public.

“It’s my fundamental belief that your public life and your private life are separate,” Mr. Nichols said. “It’s amazing that we’re having this debate in 2008.”

So he considers this flawed charade vs him a public thing… I would say it was more of a private matter(between the accusers and myself). Guess it is OBVIOUS its part of his public life, *shrug.

cooner
April 2nd, 2008 | LINK

I dunno, Joel. If his accusers are threatening both his job and his candidacy, that’s not very private.

I haven’t read the story extensively beyond this tidbit here, but I would guess if he chose a public proceeding rather than a private one it was probably to put the unfairness and lunacy on display for everyone to see, rather than letting it get swept under the rug.

If I were accused of being a child molester, I think I’d want the opportunity to both prove my innocence and, if possible, publicly expose whoever made the charade of an accusation. *shrug*

Leo
April 2nd, 2008 | LINK

I didn’t think anything on the web was truly anonymous. I’ve got to believe they could.

That’s what they should be investigating.

Leo
April 2nd, 2008 | LINK

Boy I screwed up that post.

What I meant to say is, couldn’t they trace the source of the e-mails?

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