Texas Jail Guard Fired Over Antigay Remarks

A veteran Dallas County jail guard with a history of making defamatory statements against gays, blacks, and undocumented immigrants has been fired from his position.

Stephen Johnson, 59, was fired January 20, The Dallas Morning News reported Monday, after interrupting a conversation with fellow employees and stating that gays "should be put to death." The former guard has claimed his First Amendment rights had been violated, but he does not plan to appeal his termination.

"They made it out to be that I was a bigot. I was fired [because] I hurt someone else's feelings," Johnson told the newspaper.

Johnson denied in a sworn statement that he also said he believed that whites were superior to blacks because slavery "was a fact in the Bible."

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