A gay police officer in California is suing the department, alleging that he was subjected to years of discrimination and harassment from superiors and fellow officers and was diagnosed with PTSD as a result.
In a lawsuit filed in California Superior Court, Sgt. Tyler Peppard, who joined the Oceanside Police Department as a recruit in August 2016, claims he was mistreated and even given negative performance reviews by his superiors because they objected to his alleged “lifestyle.”
Peppard, a second-generation officer, was at first praised and recognized by his superiors as a high performer, but things changed when his partner “outed” him to other officers. At that point, Peppard says he noticed a shift in the attitudes of his co-workers and superiors.
In August 2017, after nearly a year on the job, Peppard claims his direct supervisor, Sgt. Brandt, and Field Training Officer Matt Byrd had a conversation about his job performance. Peppard alleges that Brandt told him, “Your lifestyle choice do not add up to the values of our police department. Your dad is probably disappointed and embarrassed. He probably would prefer you turn in your badge and gun.”
Brandt also allegedly told Peppard, “You need more life experiences since you have only lived at your parents’ house, although your mom did just have your brother which is piss poor planning if you ask me.”
When Peppard asked why his mother’s pregnancy was brought into a performance evaluation and asked what “lifestyle choice” meant exactly, Byrd allegedly told him, “Shut the fuck up. This is not your time to talk.”
Peppard noticed that his daily observation report marking “went from high to extremely low,” and he was later recommended for termination.
His father used connections to help his son keep his job and to be moved “out of the purview of the units where he had been struggling,” according to the lawsuit.
Peppard was subsequently able to “thrive” at work, the lawsuit claims, receiving “above standard” and “outstanding” marks until late 2023, when his supervisors changed. At that point, the harassment began again.
His colleagues would leave rotting food in his equipment bag and, at times, tampered with his SWAT equipment by removing ammunition from Peppard’s magazines, which could have had dangerous and deadly implications.
The harassment was constant, occurring nearly every day and affected Peppard’s chances for advancement. He was denied 43 days of a 180-day term as a probationary sergeant because his patrol division captain said he “didn’t trust” him and believed Peppard to be a “liability” to the department.
The lawsuit claims that by having his probationary status extended — while other officers were green-lighted to become full-time sergeants — his future wages and benefits, as well as opportunities for future advancement, were negatively impacted.
“Plaintiff experienced discrimination simply because he is an openly gay man,” the lawsuit reads. “Indeed, he is the only openly gay person in the entire department.”
The city of Oceanside has since launched an internal investigation to look into Peppard’s allegations. Oceanside City Attorney John Mullen told San Diego NBC affiliate KNSD that the investigation remains ongoing and that the city will not comment further “until all witnesses have been interviewed, all relevant evidence examined and the independent investigation is concluded.”
Peppard’s attorney, Dante Pride, told KFMB that his client was treated differently after being outed, from the way that fellow officers speak to him to the way they treat him. He expects more salient details about his client’s mistreatment to come to light as the lawsuit proceeds.
“I don’t know how I would feel if the person who I have to report to, the person in charge of my paycheck, in charge of my hours, basically in charge of my life, tells me that they believe my parents should be ashamed because of my sexuality,” Pride said. “I mean, it’s heavy, very heavy.”
On January 9, Chief Judge Danny Reeves struck down Biden administration rules that embraced a broader interpretation of Title IX, a 1972 law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in federally-funded educational settings.
Under Biden's expanded interpretation of Title IX, LGBTQ students can potentially sue if they believe they have been subjected to injustices, such as being bullied or banned from certain spaces because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The rules were introduced in the spring of 2024 and were quickly challenged by GOP attorneys general in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, and West Virginia, who have argued that "sex" refers only to biological sex as observed at the time of a person's birth.
Right-wing commentators have blamed the devastating Southern California wildfires on Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, claiming that she has prioritized implementing pro-diversity initiatives over her duties.
Crowley, who is a lesbian, has borne the brunt of the right-wing's outrage despite the fact there's no evidence that she's either unqualified for her job (she was in the top 50 of 16,000 applicants when she passed her firefighter exam) or that the department's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives took money away from firefighting efforts.
Experts believe that the wildfires currently ravaging Southern California are caused by climate change, which has altered wind and rain patterns in the region, and, when combined with a lack of rainfall, hot Santa Ana winds that have dehydrated vegetation, and a series of extended droughts that have plagued California in recent years, creates fires that are more severe and harder to contain.
Freddie's Beach Bar was targeted in an attempted arson after an unknown person intentionally set fire to the entrance in the early morning hours of January 9.
The Northern Virginia bar's owner, Freddie Lutz, told Metro Weekly that the bar had received a veiled threat from an anonymous caller the day before the fire.
"He basically said, 'We're going to fuck you up, we're going to fuck up people at the bar, and then we're going to go beat up women, whatever that means,'" Lutz said.
The same anonymous caller called back with a nearly identical message just hours after the fire was put out.
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