Ohio TV Station Terminates Employee Due to ‘Straight Pride’ Post

Recently, WFMJ-TV in Youngstown, Ohio, an NBC affiliate, made headlines for terminating an employee who posted on social media advocating for “straight pride” on her personal account.

On Tuesday night, WFMJ announced the termination of its community relations director without explicitly naming the individual. The employee was later identified as Madonna Chism Pinkard, as reported by Mahoning Matters.

The TV station expressed regret over the incident in a Facebook post, stating, “We deeply regret that our Community Relations Director crossed the line. We do not condone such actions and apologize to you, our viewers, for this unauthorized post.”

Chism Pinkard’s post, which was deemed “unauthorized,” was made on her personal Facebook page under the name Madonna Jean. Despite carrying the WFMJ logo and identifying herself as the community relations director, the post sparked controversy during Pride Month.

The post by Chism Pinkard read, “Celebrate Straight Pride. It’s natural, worked for thousands of years, and you can make babies,” according to Mahoning Matters.

Pinkard deleted the post and issued an apology before being fired. WFMJ’s Facebook post on the matter garnered over 2,500 comments by Friday evening.

Responses ranged from support to criticism, with one comment stating, “You fired someone who is proud of being straight?! WOW!” Another comment highlighted, “So you fire those who have different opinions than the left? Noted.”

Some expressed disappointment over what they perceived as WFMJ’s adherence to “cancel culture,” with one comment starting with, “I’m disappointed that WFMJ has embraced the liberal ‘cancel culture’ that is so prevalent in our society today.”