Firefighters snub gay parade and get hauled into court

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squirrelcat

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Apr 4, 2008
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Let me get some opinions from people on here...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/5291310.stm


So a bunch of firefighters don't want to hand out leaflets at a gay parade. Big deal. Surely there are better things to spend taxpayer dollars on than the man hours it takes to haul these guys through the system.

Is it me or is LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community doing a bit of grandstanding here over nothing.

Surely if this was the local rubbish hauling and clean up brigade the LGBT wouldn't give a rat's ass whether or not flyers got handed out.
 
damn, so since someone's job is to save the lives of the public they should do everything within their community? Someone doesn't have time to hand out leaflets, or just doesn't wanna, doesn't the fact that someone you set your house on fire and them saving you make up for that? Damn, if people are going to start being asses like this on controversial subject, maybe i should side with the straight, but really, that LBGT or whatever group is just ridiculous
 
50/50 for me..

Its not part of their job, but neither is visiting schools, churchs, hospitals etc... I'd rather they be out fighting fires than doing that anyday.

On the other hand, when they take the job on they know they can't show any discrimination towards any minorities. Would they refuse to save someone because their reglion said they were a sinner? I doubt it.
 
A bit of an overreaction to say the least , the firefighters should be free to make their own decisions , it's not like they stated they wouldn't go out to lbgt groups is it?
I think that stonewall have jumped on this for a bit of easy publicity.
 
Maybe its cause all the policemen/builders/bikers/indians and cowboys were all to happy to hand out leaflets?
 
One of the gay bars in Glasgow was promoting prizes for anyone photographed hugging a fireman, If a bar owner had promoted a competition to sexualy harass a nurse he would have lost his license, nothing was done about it, This was part of the atmosphere before the incident. 4 of the firemen said they objected on religious grounds too.
 
I guess it all hangs on whether they objected to handing out fliers full stop or if they just refused to hand out fliers at this gay parade. If they dont want to hand out fliers then fine, but it worries me a little if there are firemen who are so homophobic they wont even do something as innocuous as hand out fliers.
 
It bothers me that they would be disciplined for that. Their duties is saving lives and fighting fires. Part of that is the visits they do to schools and community groups, If they had refused to do that at a gay event, I'd be upset. Handing out flyers at an event implies supporting that particular event or group and forcing somebody to do that is just plain wrong.
 
There were some unanswered questions. If they are ordered by superiors to do such work at other events on the taxpayer dime, then picking and choosing who they want to hand out forms to IS an issue. However if they are simply asked to do so on their own time, then they should be able to refuse.
 
This line made me laugh. Since when did firefighter become butlers. Yes, the perform a public service. That is saving lives, extinguishing fires, and other miscelaneous problems such as getting cats out of trees and opening the crushed remains of somebody's car after a crash. However, this does not make them public servants, and they shouldn't have to hand out leaflets if they don not want to; it is not part of their duties.
 
hhjch has got it right in my mind...

If part of their duties in the community is to do stuff like this for the community, they shouldn't get to pick and choose. If it's just a favour they do once in a while, then by all means, pick and choose.

Either way, however, the potential punishment in this case does not fit the crime. They should be verbally reprimanded, preferably privately and in-house, not facing such public and silly disciplinary action. It's not like they refused to put out a fire at a gay bar, they just didn't want to hand out leaflets. Whoopie, hardly worth disciplinary action.
 
Ridiculous.


If they were refusing to help gay people get out of burning buildings, it would be a different issue...
 
Found this article on the iussue wich seems to make things a bit clearer:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/firefighters/story/0,,1860184,00.html

Having read that I've gone from being a bit fifty/fifty on the issue to being more in favour of the idea that some of them may deserve discipline.

The two pertinent quotes to me are:





The first one implies that this is part of the job which they are paid to do. As far as I know they are paid to attend such events and it is a part of their job to do it.

That leaves there reasons for doing it, the second quote implies that they refused to do there job because they thought that Gay people woulkd be wrong. If I where gay this woulkd certainly make me wonder, what if a gay bar caught fire? Would it be against there moral beliefes to rescue people from it? I think it's a fair concern.

The second reason, because it's embarassing, is just plain riiculous. I mean seriously, it's part of your job to do this sort of thing. Your to embarased to be seen around gays so you refuse to do your job!? What if a policeman didn't want to take a report of a crime from someone because they where Gay, would that be acceptable?

Anyway, all I'm really saying is that I think it's fair to investigate why they did it and decide if they did something wrong. I certainly don't see anything wrong with that, it doesn't mean they will be prosecuted, just that they might.
 
I disagree, mainly because of what i read in the Guardian article above.

It's part of there job and it seems that some of them are refusing to do it because it means they are associating with Gay people.
 
So you'd force them? Just because it would be discriminatory of them not to want to associate with gay people? PCism gone too far. I dont like chavs, I wouldnt hand out fliers at a chav party, so that makes me anti-chav? Damn right!

I'd take a disciplinary hearing rather than be pressured into doing something I didnt want to do.
 
No, I'd fire them. I don't get to pick and choose which parts of my job I do, I do the whole job, just because I don't like part of it doesn't mean I get to skip it.



No I'd happil6y see them fired because they are letting their personal life interfere with their job. If a shop assistant refused to serve customers who they thought where Gay do you think the manager should keep on employing them? What about if they don't like black people and refuse to serve them? Or maybe women or Muslims or white people? When you get given a job you do the job, if you don't then you don't keep the job.



And if it's part of the job you took to associate with Chavs then guess what? You shouldn't be doing the job in the first place and it's your own damn fault, you can't expect the job to chantge according to how you feel.



"I don't want to go in to work today, I'll just take the disciplinary hearing insead." Very noble attitude.

Would you feel any different if it was a march celebrating Jamaican culture and they refused to hand out fliers because they would have to associate with Black people?
 
They've been very selective about what facts we're given in this story.

It would be nice to know:
Why the firemen were supposed to attend the marchWere they forced to attend the march?Why the leafleting needed to be done by firemen as opposed to anyone elseWhat was the content of the leaflets? (Fire safety information?)Is leafleting part of a fireman's duties?Under what circumstances is a fireman expected to leaflet at festivals/marches?
 
As far as I know

1. To flier the people there to raise awareness
2. It's part of their job and they didn't attend, not sure what you mean by "forced"
3. I think it's to make you take it seriously, they are meant to answer questions as well as hand out fliers as they know what they are talking about
4. Fire safety at a guess, iot's what they usually do
5. According to the Guardiuan Articles it is as they are being charged with deriliction of duty
6. No idea, guess like with most jobs it's when they get told to

Edit: I've been at a presentation from fire fighters when I was with St. Johns, it was part of their job to do it and they seemed fairly happy about it. They said that raissing awareness was one of the more important things they did but thats just two guys opinions.

The talk they gave certainly had more impact coming from firefighters as they where quite capable of mixing in personal experience of the consequences of, for example, not keeping a fire alarm charged.
 
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