Charmaine McGuffey wants to become her state’s first out female LGBT+ person to be elected sheriff (Twitter/@CharmMcGuffey)
A lesbian sheriff who was allegedly fired because of her sexuality is running to replace her boss and become the first female LGBT+ sheriff in her state.
Charmaine McGuffey is currently suing Hamilton county sheriff Jim Neil, claiming he fired her from her position as major of the Hamilton county jail and court services because she is a woman and a lesbian.
Neil denies this, claiming that she was fired because she created a hostile work environment and bullied colleagues, but McGuffey maintains it was because she spoke out against the toxic working culture.
She’s now challenging him outside the courts, too, as she runs against him in the Democratic primary for sheriff.
“The current sheriff and I got into a pretty serious disagreement about the practice of him not holding officers accountable for use of force and harassment of women, female officers, and female inmates,” McGuffey told LGBTQ Nation.
“He fired me. So after about a year or so of contemplating, I decided I can do a better job than him.”
As if that wasn’t enough of a thorn in Jim Neil’s side, McGuffey has now been endorsed by the Hamilton county democratic party, as well as the LGBTQ Victory Fund, Hamilton County Young Democrats, and former US Representative Gabby Giffords, among others.
“Quite frankly, my opponent has pretended to be a Democrat for many years now, when he’s actually much more aligned with the Tea Party Republicans,” McGuffey said.
“He tells people what they want to hear and then doesn’t follow through.”
In my career, I have seen justice & I have seen injustice. The time for justice reform is here and it’s now. I am running for Sheriff because effective reform is fiscally responsible & makes our communities safer. I will lead with transparency & humanity. Vote McGuffey March 17. pic.twitter.com/xCf54ucsYY
— Charmaine McGuffey (@CharmMcGuffey) January 24, 2020
If she wins the Democratic primary taking place today, on March 17, she’ll be the first out lesbian to be elected sheriff in her state. She intends to revamp the whole sheriff’s office, starting with accountability and justice reform.
“I’ve been gay my entire life,” she said, “and what I learned as early as 11 years old was this: if you don’t stand up to bullies, they run you and they cause you to fail and a whole lot of negative things happen to you.
“You have to stand up to them, but when you do stand up to them, there are consequences. It’s not easy, so it’s what I’ve done my whole life, and I have tremendously great people surrounding me who helped me through those rough times.”