San Diego Firefighters Forced to Attend Homosexual “Pride Parade”

Excerpts from “Tough-guy firefighters forced into ‘Gay Pride’ parade”
WorldNetDaily.com – August 7, 2007

Four firefighters are suing the city of San Diego for being forced by their superiors to attend the annual “Gay Pride” parade where they endured a barrage of sexual taunts and lewd gestures.

San Diego’s fire chief, Tracy Jarman, is an open lesbian who called the July 21 parade a “fun event” in which “all employees are encouraged to participate.”

But the firefighters said, unlike previous years, they were ordered into uniform to participate in the parade in their fire truck, despite their repeated protests.

…

The firefighters, described as devoted husbands and fathers, said they were subject to the most vulgar kinds of sexual harassment.

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“You could not even look at the crowd without getting some type of sexual gesture,” one said, adding, “If any crew member were to hang up pictures at the station of what we saw, we would be disciplined.”

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When they refused to respond to the crowd, some in the crowd turned hostile and started shouting, “F— you firemen” and others began “flipping them off.”

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Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center argued the constitutional right to free speech also protects the right not to speak.

“These men should not have to explain to their families, friends and church congregations that their presence at a celebration of lewdness and obscenity in support of the homosexual agenda was because they were forced there by way of a direct order,” he said. “This is a clear violation of their constitutional rights, and the city must be held accountable. It should never happen again to any city employee.”

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Thompson maintained the firefighters’ ordeal was “another example of how radical homosexual activists in positions of authority force their agenda on unwilling citizens.”

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