Even After LA Mayor Terminated Top Fire Lesbian, City Still Places DEI Above Competence 

According to the state’s” top fire lesbians,” Kristin Crowley, who led DEI across the department, was fired on February 21 by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who blamed her for the devastating reaction to the city’s enormous Palisades and Eaton flames, which erupted in some of the city’s neighborhoods last month. &nbsp,

But the state’s priorities are also misplaced, according to records a journalist provided to The Federalist. Some of the training required for LAFD EMTs also promotes radical gender ideology. Some of the training is required to meet the requirements for renewing certification. And Crowley is still with the office, only in a lower rate. But perhaps Bass ‘ lip service to “public health” is more about escaping the deadly fires than it is about responsibilities.

The Education

A LAFD member gave screenshots of the inner training to The Federalist, but he made the decision to keep the name unidentified to prevent retribution. The “EMS Patients With Special Challenges” training qualifies for one minute of payment toward the entire certification registration requirement that EMTs may meet every two years. It directs EMTs on how to handle” transgender people.”

The education discusses “medical improvements” in the “gender change method”, including “puberty suppression”, “hormone therapy”, and “medically indicated procedure”. It even instructs EMTs on trans “accommodations”: they had “ask the person what they prefer to be called”,” try to use equitable terms, such as ‘ they,'” and” try to avoid gender-specific pronouns” like he or she, or titles like dear orma’am. &nbsp,

The training also helped EMTs think which of the following statements about treating transgender people was correct:” transgender patients often behave erratically,”” trans patients typically abuse alcohol or drugs,”” transgender patients are prone to the exact natural conditions as any other patient,” or “you should ask your partner to care for the patient if you disagree with their lifestyle” were true?

Placing Identity Above Ability

The department’s top three officials, including Crowley, drew scrutiny during the wildfires as the” top fire lesbians”. They gained the nickname as LAFD’s commitment to DEI, rather than training or competence, came to light. Crowley advanced a” strategic plan” to subvert the LAFD with DEI, as The Federalist previously reported.

Kristine Larson, the deputy chief of the LAFD, received criticism for blaming victims for incapacity for female firefighters.

” ‘ You couldn’t carry my husband out of a fire.’ Which is the correct response when I say,” He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire,” Larson said. Larson heads the department’s Equity and Human Resources Bureau, according to the department’s website. According to Linked In, she holds a DEI certification and was promoted from assistant chief to deputy chief in August.

Another one of the” top fire lesbians” — Assistant Chief Kristina Kepner — was accused of violently assaulting her ex-girlfriend, according to The Daily Mail. The victim claims Crowley concealed the assault and promoted Kepner anyway, claiming that she obtained a domestic violence restraining order against him in 2021. &nbsp,

Former Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas updated the “LAFD Gender Equity Plan” in December 2020. It featured graphs that broken down the number of women firefighters according to race, and compared them to the overall number of people. By expanding “outreach to underrepresented groups,” the department made the commitment to “recruit a workforce representative of the city’s population.”

In 2022, Crowley once more reviewed the plan and assessed the number of female firefighters and their racial makeup. She claimed that the LAFD “has a goal of obtaining 5 % women.” According to Crowley,” The LAFD is committed to increasing the number of women in leadership positions.”

But the issue goes far beyond Crowley, Kepner, Larson, or even the LAFD. Los Angeles advances” citywide DEI initiatives” to create” a culture that appreciates, welcomes, and embraces a diverse workforce”, according to its website. Meanwhile, the city’s policy” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Workplace Equity Policy labels” Gender, Gender Expression and/or Gender Identity” as” Protected Categories” and gives an overly-broad definition of harassment. Then-Mayor Eric Garcetti enacted the policy in 2022 to advance “equity” and combat” all types of harassment and discrimination”.

Garcetti signed the” Racial Equity in City Government” executive directive in the wake of Black Lives Matter in 2020, using critical race theory to transform the city’s institutions through initiatives like “implicit bias” training, “outreach to certain underrepresented groups,” and” Racial Equity Task Force.”

President Donald Trump recently directed federal agencies to double down on enforcing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which bans “discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” — even in the form of “illegal DEI and DEIA policies”.

Los Angeles has, however, continued to impose radical gender ideology on all of its city employees in violation of Trump’s executive order, which protects the privacy of women at work, as The Federalist previously reported. In particular, the city mandates that all employees receive training before allowing men who believe they are women to use the restrooms or locker rooms. It also indoctrinated employees on terms like “genderqueer”,” two spirit”, and” transpawn”.

Neglecting Emergency Response

Bass, a former congresswoman, cannot save face by blaming the city’s calamitous fire response on Crowley alone. The city struggles to provide basic services like emergency response because of its emphasis on DEI rather than competence on a much deeper and wider level. &nbsp,

Bass cut$ 17.5 million from the LAFD budget just months before the fires started, and she noted in a memo that the LAFD might need to make up for nearly$ 49 million in additional cuts, which would result in the closure of 16 fire stations. Critical functions like emergency response are impacted by the city’s careless use of resources. &nbsp,

When the fires first broke out, more than 1, 000 additional firefighters were available for deployment, according to a release from Bass ‘ office — and instead, they were” sent home”. But, as United Firefighters of Los Angeles City ( UFLAC ) President Freddy Escobar told KTLA, the city had “hundreds of ambulances, trucks, and engines at our maintenance yard that were cut by the mayor’s budget that need to be repaired” .&nbsp,

” How can our members fill those positions if we don’t have the tools to put them on or the necessary equipment to do so?” asks one question. Escobar asked. &nbsp,

According to an emailed statement from the UFLAC executive board, LAFD still has “nearly 100 broken down fire engines, trucks, and ambulances in the maintenance yard as a result of civilian mechanic job cuts.” The union said Crowley is “being made a scapegoat from a devastating fire” without a “full investigation” .&nbsp,

The statement reads,” Realize is our fire department has been understaffed and underresourced for years… even during Mayor Bass’s time in office.” This city has neglected its fire department and is unable to properly pay our firefighters.

Los Angeles has been fumbling the payroll of city employees, including firefighters, for months, as The Federalist previously reported. &nbsp,

Meanwhile, LAFD ambulances were stretched dangerously thin during the recent wildfires, leaving much of the city out of reach, as The Federalist reported at the time. Meanwhile, the city left its EMTs working from ambulances with expired medication like nitroglycerin spray, epinephrine, and Midazolam.

” Our firefighters performed their jobs in the Palisades Fire despite significant challenges.” Not enough firefighters, not enough working rigs, broken down fire hydrants and a water supply that ran dry”, reads the statement from UFLAC. ” All of this occurred, yet the fire chief is being singled out and has been made the scapegoat”.

Even though Crowley is no longer the LAFD’s leader, Bass and other city officials must still be held accountable for their role in preventing the fires that destroyed many of the city’s most prominent neighborhoods.

Logan Washburn is a staff writer who writes about election ethics. He is a The College Fix spring 2025 fellow. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan grew up in rural Michigan and is from Central Oregon.

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