“…You Have To Trust Us, It’s Not About Transgenderism”

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That’s what the city commissioners of Largo, Florida said after they finalized the dismissal of City Manager Steve Stanton today in a six-hour meeting. After Stanton announced he was planning to live his life as a woman, the commission voted to dismiss him last month. The mayor and one commissioner voted to keep Stanton, but the other five members of the commission voted to fire him.

“I think we’re pretty well convinced,” said Commissioner Gay Gentry. “You have to believe us, you have to trust us, it is not about transgenderism.”

What, then, you might ask, is it about? According to the commissioners, they “lost confidence in him.” There was some talk about his having “bullied” employees, but the commission had not only given Stanton good reviews–they had given him a very large raise. The real reason for the lost confidence is best expressed by commissioner Jimmy Dean: “This little thing has made Largo the laughingstock of the whole country. It’s a disgrace.” Now that the city has been “cast in a negative light,” the commission can no longer feel confident about Stanton’s performance.

Got it? Stanton can no longer perform his duties acceptably because the city is embarrassed.

Stanton’s contract says he can be fired without cause, and he hasn’t decided whether to file a lawsuit against the commission.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

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