Thisbymaster: Not everyone is like you where watching lots of guys humping each other is someplace they want to be. I think you may have got teh ghey

Oh good heavens! Not that!

I don't get it, if they want us to respect them why do they then shove it down our throats like it was something important.

Because people still give a sh*t about that sort of thing, apparently. For instance:

The only time I will start respecting the gays is when they stop all parades, and conventions.

It's not a bargain. It doesn't work that way. They are not negotiating with you anymore. If the only way they can earn your respect is by disappearing completely, they'd probably do without whatever honor your respect may bestow upon them. The very reason they have parades is because of this. It's about assertion.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand: not all gay pride parades are alike. Sometimes you get drunk horny obnoxious people that do stupid sh*t. I have no doubt that this parade contained such people.

Then again, it might have been an easy mistake. These guys are firemen. You might as well have a giant sign above the truck with an arrow pointing down that reads "Men in Uniform." It's a gay pride parade; they just assumed everybody there was groovy. Does it give them permission to be assholes? No! But did it justify a lawsuit?

sentient_being: It's really up to the courts, of course, but if their case is proven, she should lose her job at least IMO

Why?

NautACrazyAstro: That's assuming these guys would choose to participate in the Mardi Gras parade. If they chose to participate in the Gay Pride parade, this article would not exist because anything offensive would have been met with "I won't be doing this next year". Butch bullied these guys into participation. That = lawsuit. I think the wives should attach to the suit for loss of companionship compensation as well

It's true I was making a huge assumption about the Mardi Gras thing, but the point is- I don't imagine they would sue if the people making lude gestures at them happen to be people they wouldn't mind f*cking. It's just a guess, though. I don't know these guys.

sentient_being: it shows that this woman cannot handle her authority responsibly. It's that simple.

This was not a fire. This wasn't an instance in which she directed people to their deaths because of incompetance, or underscheduled a shift that led to more property damage than necessary, or forced them to perform a training evolution during a control fire that they were not instructed how to do.

This was telling a bunch of guys in Truck 5 to just shut up and go to the damn parade so people know when their house burns down you'll help them to.

Should she be punished? Actually yes. It could have been handled differently. But in contrast to the myriad of mistakes a Fire Chief could possibly make, this ranks up there with understocking the toilet paper. I don't believe, anyway, that it is within the threshold for termination. But that too is just an opinion.

CycloneArmageddon: You still aren't making any point. Your argument about what might or might not happen if women were flashing their breasts at the men is meaningless. It didn't happen.

Also, it's not the same thing. The same thing would be female firefighters being exposed to the breasts of other women.

So FAIL on two counts

Most adults can handle the situation without litigation. And, while anectdotal and completely illogical in court of law, I don't know a SINGLE woman that would gasp in terror and scream 'lawsuit' at seeing some woman flash her breasts.

So, sure. FAIL. If you're a goddamned child.

cabal08: Men are almost exclusively attracted to women

The very existence of a parade for homosexuals kind of invalidates this point, no?

In your opinion "humping is humping" and the participants don't matter...but others do not feel the same way and should not be forced to view it against their wishes. Sexuality is a private matter and what people get their "shiat off" on varies from person to person. We should all be tolerant of each other but participation under threat is not tolerance.

That's absolutely true. I agree! But whose fault was it? Was it the people who decided that they could go over the top if they were among a mob and couldn't be punished for public exposure? Was it the parade organizers who didn't provide any context other than "it's a f*cking party! Come on down! Act insane!" Or was it the fire chief who told them to go to represent the public service?

The lawsuit is a bit much.

Bender The Offender: Yeah, I'm sure if this was a straight man forcing gay people into politically motivated anti-gay demonstrations you'd be screaming for his head. "Double standards, let me show you mine!".

In what possible instance would the public services be needed to show their support of intolerance in a democracy? Let's be fair, there isn't a Fire Chief in the country that's going to have their trucks roll in support of the Phelps clan. We're at least better than that now. Gay Pride parades are not about hate. They are not anti-straight parades. It's an all inclusive sort of groovy thing. Anti-gay demonstrations are, by definition, in opposition to homosexuality (whether one wants to use the term 'hate' is up to the demeanor of the organization).

I can't think of a Fire Chief that would want their trucks to ride in a parade of opposition.

The_Religious_Left: This is her pushing an agenda

Yes. Yes it was! I get the action memos from the Gay Power Movement, do you know what that agenda is? Here it is: "Get a bunch of guys in Truck 5 to just shut up and go to the damn parade so people know when their house burns down you'll help them to."

She knows what it's like. Yes she has an agenda, and it's a damn good one.

cabal08: I would be in doubt of her ability to separate non-work related events with on the job performance reviews.

Look, I just don't see that one from the two articles and the legal statements given in this thread. It would take something a lot larger than this for me to doubt her abilities as a Fire Chief. This was a crummy, lower-level pissing contest that manifests itself in work situations all the time, but people bite the bullet, maybe file a complaint, people get yelled at, they get the evil eye and that's how it works. But a news article? A lawsuit? Job termination?

I just can't come to that conclusion here.

loki see loki do: This:

Link (new window)

I love that article :)

Trust This Girl: I want a Hetero Pride bracelet, and a t-shirts that have a something like "yay I'm straight!" But of course that would make one look bigoted. It's unfair!

It all depends on presentation, really. Shirts that say "Thank God I'm Straight because DAMN, LOOK AT YOUR BOOBIES!" can either be ironic, cruel, or hip depending on the company you keep!

When straight people celebrate sex, it's evil porn, when gay people celebrate sex, it's a farking parade.

That's true, but you just need better lobbyists. When people just celebrate sex and stop trying to define what's the 'better' gender attraction, no longer will anyone give a sh*t whether someone is gay or not. But that's a long way, I think.

Seriously, though- get better lobbyists.

I'm having a difficult time coming to terms with the fact that I actually agree with World Net Daily about something. There's really no excuse for forcing city employees to participate in anything like this, gay parade or otherwise.

BobTheFirstJr: While I disagree with sending anyone to ride in such a parade under these circumstances, I fail to see the need to demonize the 'lesbian chief' who appears to have had no direct involvement in the entire situation.

Yeah, I can't seem to find any article about this that actually claims the lesbian fire chief driectly ordered the men to go. Then again, the WND article doesn't really come out and say that either. It certainly implies it, though. I guess it just wouldn't be WND without at least some half-truths and hysteria.

That said, this is still bullshiat.

sigdiamond2000

She DID order them to go. She was on the radio yesterday trying to defend herself on this.

She also wasn't aware that the firefighters in past years had been subject to the same crap and HAD complained about it in past years; she was also surprised that it happened.

She's totally clueless and needs to be fired.