An employee with a news station in Ohio was fired over a post advocating for celebrating “straight pride” during LGBTQ Pride Month.
Madonna Chism Pinkard, who had served as the community relations director for WFMJ TV, was let go from her position with the news station after sharing an “unauthorized post” the week before, the news station announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday, according to Mahoning Matters.
Pinkard had reportedly shared the post about “straight pride” on her personal Facebook page while using a photo of the news station as her profile picture.
‘WFMJ has terminated the employment of our Community Relations Director following her unauthorized post on a company-linked social media site last week,” the news station wrote in its post. “WFMJ is committed to serving our entire community with the respect we believe all people deserve.”
The news station added that it did “not condone such actions” and continued to “apologize” to its viewers for the unauthorized post.
“We recognize we live in a diverse community with differing views on many topics, and we believe discussions of those views and reporting on them should be done in a respectful manner by all,” the news station added. “We deeply regret that our Community Relations Director crossed the line.”
Pinkard, who uses the name, “Madonna Jean,” on her Facebook profile, shared a photo of a man and a woman appearing to be dressed in wedding attire, according to a screenshot of her post shared by the MLO Bros podcast.
The words, “Celebrate Straight Pride,” and “It’s Natural, It Has Worked for Thousands of Years. And You Can Make Babies!”
Breaking news- thanks to the “riff raff” for the quick screen shots A 21 WFMJ employee posted this earlier on their page and has since been taken down. Ouch.
Posted by The MLO Bros on Thursday, June 6, 2024
Several people took to the comments to defend Pinkard and her post.
“I’m gay and I’m still just trying to figure out why the LGBT community is letting things like this offend them,” one user wrote. “I thought it was funny. She’s getting the reactions she wants. This post is a great example. Literally who cares lol.”
Another person wrote, “It’s called freedom of speech. You’re allowed to practice your first amendment rights no matter what side you’re on. Get over it.”
“I’m gay and find that hilarious,” one user called Joey Ritter commented.
Pinkard has reportedly “removed” the post and apologized for offending the “viewers” of the news station, according to the outlet.
“I apologize for the post that offered [sic] one of our viewers,” Pinkard said in her statement. “I have removed it.”
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