Police officer alleges anti-gay bias in St. Cloud PD
A former St. Cloud police officer says he faced bias by the city’s police department after he requested to attend Twin Cities Pride last year. According to a complaint filed against the city, Sean Lathrop’s supervisor, Police Chief Dennis Ballantine, told him “there are no gay people in St. Cloud” and that he “didn’t want the department represented at a gay pride event.”
After that, Lathrop said he was subjected to bias on the job. According to the St. Cloud Times:
The court document said police officials made anti-gay comments to him and told him that his sexual orientation was getting in the way of him being a police officer. When Lathrop complained about the comments, the lawsuit says he was told to let it go. The lawsuit specifies various job opportunities and responsibilities that he contends were taken away from him after his homosexuality became known in the department.
Lori Peterson and former DFL congressional candidate Ashwin Madia are representing Lathrop.
“He was considered the golden boy of the department until the supervisors found out he was gay,” Peterson said.
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