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Firefighters
protest forced participation in pride parade

Firefighters
protest forced participation in pride parade

Fireman

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.

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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 The San 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 One other crew member volunteered to participate but rescinded his offer for personal reasons the day before.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)

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