ATLANTA — Atlanta's former fire chief is speaking out after being fired Tuesday.
Channel 2 Action News was first to report in November that the city suspended Kelvin Cochran over a book he wrote that contained critical views on homosexuality.
Channel 2's Dave Huddleston broke the news of the chief's termination on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
Cochran told Huddleston outside his former headquarters that he gave the mayor a copy of the book a year ago.
Sources in City Hall told Huddleston on Monday that Cochran was going to be fired, not for writing the book, but not going through proper channels to do it in the first place.
"Not one time during the course of preparing this book did the chief ever think it was appropriate to have a conversation with me," said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
Reed, surrounded by members of his administration, including city officials some who are part of the LGBT community, said he fired Cochran for bad judgment, not for writing the book which calls homosexuality a perversion.
"Let's stop trying to make this about religious freedom, when it's about making sure we have an environment in government where everyone can come to work," Reed said.
After he was terminated, Cochran told reporters he received permission from the city's ethics department to write the book and in fact he sent a copy to the mayor's office, giving it to the mayor's assistant.
Cochran says, he asked the mayor about it in January 2014.
"He had confirmed he had received it and that he was going to read it," Cochran said.
The mayor's office is adamant he knew nothing about the book until just recently.
Cochran says he did have permission to write the book, but he didn't get it in writing.
He leaves his job after seven years and says he doesn't plan to appeal.