Larry Scirotto, Fort Lauderdale’s first gay police chief, pushed for diversity in the upper ranks but was fired six months into the job amid claims he made promotions based on the color of the candidates’ skin. During his tenure, Scirotto promoted 15 officers. Nine were white men. The other six were minorities by ethnicity or gender. Scirotto, 50, filed a federal lawsuit in March seeking damages approaching $10 million for what he called a breach of contract and wrongful termination. The lawsuit said that Scirotto, who had been tasked early on with bringing further diversity to the department, got warnings from both the mayor Dean Trantalis, and city manager Chris Lagerbloom that he’d likely face pushback in his efforts to promote and hire more minorities. This lawsuit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas in late September. Though the court dismissed Scirotto’s claim of wrongful termination, it gave Scirotto and his attorneys an October 6 deadline to amend the civil rights violation claim. Scirotto’s attorney has declined to comment on whether they plan to do so. Scirotto was a respected officer and hailed by city leaders as an agent for change. #Queer Up Courts