Firefighters claim they were sexually harassed at Pride
Four firefighters in San Diego are claiming they suffered sexual harassment when they were required to take part in the city’s Pride parade in 2007.
They have been given the right to take their case to court.
Firefighters Alex Kane and Chad Allison, engineer Jason Hewett and captain John Ghiotto told KGTV that “during the parade, bystanders taunted them with sexually explicit comments and colleagues called to tease them for participating in the event.”
Their lawyer claims Pride was a political event and therefore they should not have been ordered to go.
The trial will begin later this month.
It has become common in the UK for firefighters to take part in Pride parades, often for recruitment purposes, and to spread messages about fire safety.
In 2006 nine firemen from Glasgow were ordered to undergo an intensive course in “diversity training” as a punishment for refusing to carry out duties at Pride Scotia.
Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said:
“Firefighters are well aware that fire prevention education and spreading the fire safety message is not a minor part of their job – it ranks alongside fire-fighting as a core, statutory duty.”
