Truro man rejects bias label
Eric Williams
Cape Code Times
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
TRURO - He walked into an ambush last month, when a selectman accused him of bias for signing an anti-gay marriage petition.
Leo Childs, chief of the town's rescue squad, kept quiet for several weeks after the incident. He also kept making middle-of-the-night ambulance runs, helping townspeople through those frightening times when sickness and emergency drop down out of the blue.
And last night at and after a meeting of the town's board of fire engineers, Childs and his wife, Marjorie, spoke of how their lives have changed since Truro Selectman Paul Asher-Best launched the bias broadside.
"It's our religion," said Marjorie Childs last night. "It's the way we were taught. We don't have any animosity toward anybody."
"The petition was provided by St. Peter's Church in Provincetown," said Leo Childs. "We hoped the (gay marriage) question would be settled once and for all by going on the referendum.
"Childs, a candidate for reappointment to the board of fire engineers, was shocked when Asher-Best questioned his ability to provide rescue service without bias to gay Truro residents. Asher-Best said he became aware Childs had signed the anti-gay marriage petition by checking the Web site KnowThyNeighbor.org.
The site has published the names of people who signed the petition, searchable by name, address and ZIP code.
Shortly after the April selectmen's meeting, Asher-Best, who is gay, said, "If you think I'm not entitled to civil marriage, then the only conclusion I can draw is that you don't think I'm fully human, or that my humanity is not on par with yours.
"Childs was not reappointed to the board of fire engineers by the selectmen, though other Truro selectmen strongly disavowed Asher-Best's statements.
In a letter sent to several newspapers recently, Selectman Fred Gaechter, the board chairman, wrote that he and other selectmen took issue with Childs last year after he allegedly appealed a procurement decision to the board of selectmen without notifying the board of fire engineers.
Last night at the board of fire engineers meeting, Marjorie Childs chastised the group for not immediately defending her husband after the bias accusation.
"I think the innuendo that followed the meeting, that this man is biased and he can't give proper rescue care to everyone in the town of Truro, should have been jumped on immediately by the board of fire engineers," said Marjorie Childs. "It never, ever, ever should have been left to speculation.
"Board of fire engineers member Jan Worthington agreed.
"That was totally and completely unfair, untrue and you're talking about someone's career and reputation and it was horrible," she said. "He has never, ever shown any bias towards anyone in any way.
"After the meeting, the Childses said they had been approached by several groups offering pro bono legal representation if they planned to pursue action against the town for violating Leo Childs' civil rights.
The Childses said they were keeping their options open.
Leo Childs, who had been out on a rescue call for a severe asthma attack at 4:30 a.m., said he didn't want to do anything to hurt the town.
"It's just an awful situation to have the shadow hanging over you that you've gone into someone's house, and you might have had a poor outcome to an emergency situation, and have somebody think that we didn't do everything that we could," said Leo Childs.
Eric Williams can be reached at ewilliams@capecodonline.com.