Background note: A former Florida policewoman filed a federal discrimination suit, alleging that she was fired because of a sex-change operation. The officer, now a man, charged that the firing violated his constitutional rights and asked for both monetary damages and reinstatement on the police force. Christine: If the cause for the firing was as the officer describes it, then it was improper. Renee: I disagree. A police officer is a public official and should not engage in behavior that disgraces that office. Christine: What's disgraceful about having a sex-change operation? Renee: It's sick, strange, and abnormal, and it makes the police department the laughingstock of the community. Christine: Wrong. The only concern of the police department and of the general public should be the officer's performance of his or her duty. Whether he or she decides to have a sex-change operation is no more their business than if the officer decides to take up stamp collecting as a hobby.