City Workers Disciplined Over Gay Couple's Ejection

Two city employees in Hazard, Ky., have been disciplined in connection with the ejection of a gay couple from a municipal swimming pool.

Kim Haynes, who acknowledged saying "We don't tolerate that kind of activity around here" regarding the gay couple, was suspended for a week without pay, city officials said Saturday, according to the Associated Press. Haynes claimed the two men were engaging in excessive displays of affection that he would have found objectionable from a straight couple as well, but he also admitted to citing biblical prohibitions on homosexuality.

Charlotte Pearlman, manager of the Hazard Pavilion, where the pool is located, was reprimanded for unbecoming conduct. City officials said she used obscene language when she declined comment to a television news crew about the incident.

The men were at the pool June 10 as part of a group overseen by Mending Hearts, an organization that serves people with disabilities. Officials with both Mending Hearts and the Kentucky Equality Federation, an LGBT rights group, said the men were doing nothing inappropriate. Dozens of people rallied at the Pavilion Saturday in support of the couple.

The city plans to put up new antidiscrimination signs at the pool as well as signs warning against excessive public displays of affection.