A Connecticut Mayor has made national headlines after denying a request from the town’s fire department to wear pink shirts this month. The plan was to support the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation by selling and wearing pink shirts. More than 200 departments across the country have signed on to wear pink shirts as part of Breast Cancer awareness month.
But the Bristol Mayor Arthur Ward says that the fire department is contractually required to wear their standard, blue shirts and other colors are specifically forbidden. However, the fire department says that the contract is simply an excuse and the mayor is denying the request due to political pettiness.
Relations have been strained between the fire department and the mayor for years.
Mayor Ward, who hasn’t spoken publicly yet about the issue, apparently isn’t empathetic to the situation. According to his assistant, his mom died of breast cancer.
Originally, the plan was to sell shirts to the firemen only. But due to the publicity surrounding the controversy, the department has already sold 500 shirts (at $20 each) and is producing more to keep up with demand.
Read the full story at the New York Times.