SOUTH CAROLINA: Lesbian Police Chief Re-Sworn In After Firing For Being Gay

Earlier this week I reported that the citizens of a small South Carolina town had overwhelming voted to override their mayor and reinstate their lesbian police chief, Crystal Moore, after the mayor fired her for being gay. But the reinstatement did have a hiccup.

The council had planned to reinstate her as soon as the ballots were certified, but on Wednesday, Bullard surprised everyone by announcing he had just hired someone else for the job. "I have went from being ecstatic, overwhelmed, not able to speak, to crushed again," Moore told WPDE NewsChannel 15 after Bullard's move. Bullard, meanwhile, said it was time for the town to move on. "The town has to continue. The town has to go on, we can't dwell on what happened in the past. The only thing that we can do is try to move forward," he said. "And in that, the way to move forward is to put someone in place permanently." Things changed again on Friday night, though, as the council determined Bullard had broken local laws by unilaterally hiring a police chief without their consent. They declared his hire invalid and immediately reinstated Moore.

Moore tells MSNBC that she only recently learned that in 29 states it remains legal to fire someone for being gay.