In high school she worked cleaning offices at night for 30 hours a week, and she was a typist for the yearbook, her only extracurricular activity.

City commissioners cited their confidence in Stanton, as well as the time and cost of recruiting a replacement for Bonczek, as their reason for hiring in-house.

[12] Stanton decided to continue her long professional career in public policy and politics while undergoing gender transition.

[14] Stanton testified before Congress, appeared on TV with Larry King and Montel Williams and became the somewhat reluctant face of the transgender-equality movement.

[16] Two years after losing her job as Largo city manager, Susan Stanton was picked to lead Lake Worth, Florida.

Vice Mayor Jo-Ann Golden stated, "I thought she had the right temperament for our city and, truthfully, I learned a lot from her.

[21] Lake Worth, a city of about 37,000 people, near the ocean in Palm Beach County offered Stanton an annual salary of $150,000.

Stanton was quoted as saying, "Lake Worth has a very progressive city commission and a staff that wants to improve the quality of life in the community.

[24] As Greenfield's City Manager, Stanton had oversight responsibilities for sanitary sewer and water utility systems, police, streets, drainage, parks, recreation, planning, zoning, building, community development and finance.

Had the ordinance passed, it would have made Largo the 64th municipality in the United States to extend equal rights protection to transgender people through the inclusion of gender identity.

However, the proposed ordinance failed by a 4 to 3 vote of the City Commission, leaving both gender identity and sexual orientation as permissible reasons for Largo residents to be discriminated against in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

The policy applied to city employees and prohibited discriminatory conduct both in the workplace and in any work-related setting, such as during business trips.

The policy was passed partly in reaction to two incidents in which a fire department lieutenant and a police officer made racial slurs.

[29][30][31] Stanton reports having had thoughts of transitioning since she was a child, and recalls wearing her sister's clogs when she was age 6 or 7 to walk to the candy store.

Afterwards, she began to discuss her feelings with a therapist who had testified in support of the ordinance, and ultimately made the decision along with her wife to pursue sex reassignment.

Since then, Stanton underwent counseling, with clinical psychologist and gender therapist Kathleen Farrell, and hormone replacement therapy in preparation for sex reassignment surgery at some future date.

Stanton met privately with Largo City Mayor Pat Gerard on January 1, 2007, to inform her that she was transgender and intended to begin the final stages of gender transition in the coming year.

[33][34] Stanton shared her plans only with a very small group of confidential advisers, including her wife, a medical team and a few top officials at City Hall.

"Like many transgendered people," Stanton wrote, "I have privately struggled with this very personal matter all of my life and have kept it secret from my family, friends and co-workers.

According to Stanton's contract, upon her dismissal a severance package would include 12 months' salary unless she were convicted of a felony, had violated the state code of ethics, or had committed "gross misconduct.

Stanton was placed on paid administrative leave while the city began the legal process required to end her contract, which stipulates that she can be fired at any time without cause with a 5–2 vote.

[11] The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) was assisting Stanton in an attempt to persuade the City Commission to reverse its decision to terminate her employment.

[4][47] On February 28, 2007, the day following the special commission meeting, Stanton, reportedly surprised by the abrupt loss of her job, began fielding calls and taking part in interviews with local television stations.

[50] One LGBT rights group, the National Sexuality Resource Center, started a 'Stand with Stanton' petition to pressure the City Commission of Largo, Florida to reverse their decision.

[31] The National Center for Lesbian Rights similarly denounced the commission's decision to fire Stanton, also citing the city's internal non-discrimination policy.

[53] On 3 March 2007, the St. Petersburg Times published the results of a survey conducted on its behalf by Communications Center Inc. of Lakeland, Florida.

The survey also found widespread acceptance among city and county residents for transgender persons in the workplace, whether in the public or private sector.

[55] A total of 350 people, including clerics and congregation members from more than a dozen local churches and synagogues, attended the 30-minute protest on March 6.

[56] On March 23 during a six-hour meeting of Largo city council, the motion was made to terminate Stanton's employment.

On April 13, 2007, Stanton appeared on the Larry King Live show on CNN accompanied by her attorney, Karen Doering, of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.