DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Government documents and emails show that Iowa’s top 4-H leader was fired earlier this year after a proposed policy discouraging discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender was withdrawn. The Des Moines Register reports that it reviewed more than 500 pages of communication that show Iowa 4-H director John-Paul Chaisson-Cárdenas was fired after he fought pressure to drop the policy.

Just days after Iowa officials posted a draft of the policy in April, an official with the federal department that administers 4-H, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, sent an email urging that the policy be dropped. Iowa 4-H officials were also pressured to drop the policy by Christian conservative leaders and one group threatened to file a lawsuit.

Chaisson-Cárdenas resisted because he was adamant that 4-H should be for all kids. Chaisson-Cárdenas was disciplined after the criticism for the way the policy was handled and later fired in August. He maintains that he followed proper procedure.