Openly Gay Minn. Fire Chief To Step Down

Minnesota - Bonnie Bleskachek, the nation's first openly lesbian big-city fire chief, has agreed to step down in the wake of firefighter lawsuits accusing her of harassment and discrimination, her attorney and the mayor said.

Mayor R.T. Rybak announced the agreement in a letter to the city's executive council in which he wrote that he no longer had confidence in Bleskachek as chief. The executive council was to discuss the agreement Tuesday, and the full City Council could consider it as early as Friday.