Transgendered Firefighter
Recently, I took a call from a person who questioned our motives in some of our stories on Knoxville Fire Chief Carlos Perez. They were particularly unhappy with our piece Wednesday on Firefighter Jamie Faucon's accusation - filed in a grievance - that she was being discriminated against because she used to be a man.
The caller thought the story was sensational and without merit. The caller said Foucon was encouraged to file the grievance to further embarrass Chief Perez and by airing the story, we played into the hands of those who don't like the Chief.
The caller even questioned if we were taking sides on the controversy surrounding Perez.
The answer to that is an emphatic no. Are we blind to efforts by some to rid the Department of Chief Perez? Of course not.
Yes, there does appear to be an organized effort by some in the Fire Department to oust Chief Perez. Yes, we hear stories practically every day from anonymous persons trashing the Chief on one issue or another. And no, we don't air every allegation.
So why did we choose to air the story of Jamie Faucon? Why wouldn't we?
This woman says she's being discriminated against because she used to be a man. In an interview with 6 News she said co-workers continue to call her "he" or "him" or "sir." That that attitude is itself - in her opinion- a form of discrimination. And that attitude, she believes, has led to the loss some of the perks she's enjoyed in the past.
Seems to me, that's a story?
We asked the Fire Department for a response. They declined saying they would prefer the grievance work its way through the formal process first. Fair enough.
We did air a rebuttal from former Firefighters Association President Mark Brown, who knows Faucon well. He says there is no discrimination, because others faced the same losses in perks.
If the issue were discrimination against a minority or a woman, or a disabled person, wouldn't the public expect us to report it? Why should the issues of discrimination of a transgendered person be different? Our thought was, it wasn't.
Comments
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Comments
I have no problem with
I have no problem with channel 6 doing a report on the Faucon story. the problem I have is with this Faucon person themself. As a Seventh-day Adventist Christian who not only believes but knows that God never changes and that these "so-called transgendered" people are completely and totally mixed up. A person is whatever God creates them to be while they are still in the womb and when they try for whatever cracked and crazy reason to change things they are the ones that are definitely IN THE WRONG.
OMG! I think Harry is mixed
OMG! I think Harry is mixed up, only God can judge. Jamie knows what is right for her, yes her, its her right to live her life however she chooses, I have seen her and don't have a problem at all with who she is but I also never knew her before, I was VERY upset with the way people reacted to her at a pre-party for a HS reunion, the one story was frightening and I did not want to hear it but NOT because of her sex change, but the behavior of all involved. As for calling her "him" when you know someone a long time its not easy to go from him to her, I saw it with her classmates at the recent reunion, they would say him, oh, no her, it takes time to get used to, I did not talk to her because I was not introduced and she was surrounded most the time, but like I said, she seemed to be a really nice lady and wish her well. Oh, I did not go to that pre-party, just heard the many horrible stories!
i think
i think
jamie has the right to do
jamie has the right to do what she wants without being judged....if you are judging her because of this, your sinning just like she did by changing her gender. Jamie is a person i am very close to and i dont appreciate people talking like this . Just god stop
I am also a friend of
I am also a friend of Jamie's. To Harry Best, you need to understand people like Jamie are born a man in a woman's body. When you look at all the birth defects that happen in this world does it not make sense that someone could be born as a physical man & have all the emotions & feelings of a woman. Research has been done on this & they have found that in transgender men their brains are identical to a woman. 20/20 recently did a story on transgender kids & it was amazing how these lids knew at a very early age that something was not right. They didn't feel comfortable with their body. You can't control this condition anymore then you can control rather your born a man or a woman. Judgmental people & religious zealots make these peoples lives a lot more difficult then they need to be. Jamie is one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet & she's a valuable asset to the Knoxville Fire Dept. I'm proud to have her as a friend.