San Diego Firefighters Sue Over Gay Pride

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

For fifteen years San Diego has had firefighters participating in the gay pride parade without incident.  This year four firefighters have lodged a formal complaint with the state and in order to be able to sue the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department for being ordered to participate and being subjected to harassment from the crowd.  There was nothing particularly out of the ordinary, when it came to the activities of the crowd at pride.  There were cat calls, requests for them to "show their hose" and gasp.... Christian protesters heaping scorn on them for their attendance.  SignonSanDiego:

In statements filed with the state, the men said that along the parade route, they were subjected to offensive and lewd comments such as, "You can put out my fire," and saw men blowing kisses at them. Then, they said, they had to endure protesters who yelled at them that homosexuality was a sin. Some comments were too graphic to print.

These firefighters in their complaint are clearly homophobic and religiously conservative.  The question is did the supervisors have a reason to believe that they would be subject to this type of behavior at Pride?  The law says according to the complaint (pdf) that:

purusant to Government Code section 12940(j)(1)[employer liable for harassment by non-employees if the employer knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action] and section 12940(k)[employer liable for failing to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent harassment.]

Of course, similar behavior goes on at other street fair events.  However, since it is usually coming from women, it has not created a problem.  Here is Firefighter 2's complaint:

While I was sitting there waiting for the parade to start I felt that I was forced against my will to be at the Gay Pride Parade and forced to see men in tight shorts dancing provocatively and other men kissing and hugging wearing sexually suggestive material on t-shirts with writing, "Girth and Mirth ", "Suit Up Before You Dive In ". I personally had a man approach me on the drivers side with the "Girth and Mirth" t-shirt and stated I look hungry why don't I have a Twir kie . I was polite to this man a stated no thank you, I felt like he was insinuating something sexual . At 1022 hrs while waiting for the parade to start I received a phone call from another employee asking if I was in the parade and that they hope we have fun. The sarcastic , teasing phone calls were already starting and the parade hadn't even begun . At approximately 1030 hrs we saw Senior Staff and were then told where we needed to place the fire engine because up until that point we had no point of contact and no one to tell us where to go . I was told hello from a few Senior Staff members and even teased by one that stated something along the lines of, "how are you guys doing" or "are you guys having fun ". This being said with a smile on there face.

Yes, he really did cite men in tight shorts as being part of his sexual harassment claim.  It sounds like much of his complaint is based on behavior of his fellow firefighters, not the pride participants (the twinkie comment aside).

When I walked into the bullpen at the station I saw the Shift Commander, Chief Enrique Camberos, showing another captain on the chalk board how to play craps. This made me even more disappointed and upset . After what we, as crew, just had to experience he was demonstrating gambling on the chalkboard .

It has been less that 24 hours and I've already received three types of derogatory communication by coworkers about being in the Gay Pride Parade .

This EEO complaint isn't about homosexuality or gay pride . This has to do with people in the workplace being threaten, sexually harassed . and forced to participate in a parade that isn't like other parades and the behavior that is demonstrated by the public and some of its participants are what are found to be offensive.

This is obviously not a cut and dry issue.  It is rather easy to mock these firefighters for being upset from having gay men pinch their nipples while at a pride event.  However, they were ordered to be their against their will.  There could have been a reasonable expectation that this type of behavior would have occurred and made a group of religious conservative firefighters upset.  Indeed some of the more graphic incidents the some of the firefighters describe could be considered sexual harassment, certainly if it was a woman in the workplace and a man said them.  Bottom line, homophobia exists and these firefighters were probably not the best choice to send on the parade.

Naturally this suit is being pushed by a conservative religious group the Thomas More Law Center.

The Thomas More center, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., is described on its Web site as a nonprofit public-interest law firm that promotes Christian values and freedoms through litigation and media attention. The center has been involved in the fight against removal of the Mount Soledad cross.

They are trying to use this in an effort to smear the gay community and stir up trouble in San Diego.  They will make this a political football and blow this up to its zenith, if the suit is allowed to proceed.  Queers will be portrayed as depraved, oversexed, immoral individuals.  They will in essence be defending their right to be offended when gays hit on them.  I do not relish this fight escalating.