Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran’s suspension because of inflammatory remarks made in a self-published religious book ends on Tuesday.
Mayor Kasim Reed suspended the veteran fire chief without pay in late November after employees complained about the 2013 book “Who Told You That You Are Naked?”
Among the remarks that some city leaders found troubling were Cochran’s description of homosexuality as a “perversion” akin to bestiality and pederasty.
Reed said Cochran’s remarks are inconsistent with the city’s employment policies and opened an investigation into potential discrimination within the fire department. The findings of that investigation have not yet been released.
Religious groups quickly rallied around Cochran, a church deacon at Elizabeth Baptist Church, decrying his punishment as an impingement on religious freedom.
The Faith and Freedom Coalition, a Duluth-based grass-roots conservative group launched by former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed, called for Cochran’s return to work last month.
In an “action alert” email sent in December, the coalition’s executive director, Tim Head, said Cochran “has as much right to speak and write about his beliefs as any Atlanta politician does.”
Cochran declined comment Monday.
The fire chief also received support from the Georgia Baptist Convention. The organization is asking its members to sign an online petition calling on Reed to apologize to the fire chief, restore lost pay and “acknowledge Chief Cochran’s First Amendment Rights.”
Cochran served as Atlanta’s fire chief under former mayor Shirley Franklin in 2008 and later as President Barack Obama’s U.S. fire administrator.
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