Four San Diego
firefighters have filed a state-level complaint, alleging
they were forced to participate in the local gay pride
parade, where they say they were sexually harassed,
according to a statement released Monday .
Their battalion
chief allegedly ordered Capt. John Ghiotto, engineer
Jason Hewett, and firefighters Chad Allison and Alex Kane to
drive a fire truck through the July 21 parade against
their will. They objected but were ordered to
participate to avoid disciplinary action.
They claim that
the department failed to protect them from becoming
targets of sexual gestures and taunting, and also did not
act immediately to address the problem.
"You could
not even look at the crowd without getting some type of
sexual gesture," one unnamed firefighter said in the
statement. "If any crew member were to hang up
pictures at the station of what we saw, we would be
disciplined."
Their attorney
from the Thomas More Law Center, a Christian public
interest firm, sent a letter to the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing on August 1, seeking permission
to sue the city's Fire-Rescue Department.
The SDFD has
participated in the parade for 15 years, according to its
chief, Tracy Jarman, an out lesbian. She also apologized in
a statement Monday and said she has commissioned the
city's Equal Employment Investigative Office to
examine the complaint.
Jarman was
appointed chief in June 2006 and has now spent 22 years with
the SDFD.
Fire department
spokesman Maurice Luque told TheSan Diego Union-Tribune that the four men who
participated were chosen because their station is
located in the Hillcrest neighborhood, where the parade
took place. One other crew member volunteered to participate
but rescinded his offer for personal reasons the day
before. (The Advocate)
