Viewers fume after news station fires gay weatherman for calling out far-right anti-lockdown protesters

Up until last week, 39-year-old Sven Sundgaard was a weatherman for TV station KARE 11, making a name for himself as a high-profile LGBTQ figure in Minneapolis, Minnesota. But when he decided to voice his displeasure with the surge of anti-lockdown protests in the U.S., he was fired after 14 years, Queerty reports.

Sundgaard shared a Facebook post that referred to anti-lockdown protestors in Minnesota as “white nationalist Nazi sympathizer gun fetishist miscreants." He later deleted it, but a far-right group nevertheless called for him to resign. On May 1, his employer announced that he had been fired.

“Due to continued violations of KARE 11’s news ethics and other policies, we have made the decision to part ways with Sven Sundgaard," the station wrote on Facebook.

News of Sundgaard's firing brought an influx of support.

“I am on the side of science and Sven,” one person commented. “Due to the poor ethics of KARE 11, I have decided to part ways with KARE 11.”

“Sven was part of the reason I watched Kare11,” another wrote, “so I’ll just choose another network for my news.”

“Sad that a weatherman is held to a higher standard than our current president,” a third person wrote.

In his own post on Facebook, Sundgaard thanked his supporters and said he's disputing his termination and is considering his options.