Court throws out firefighters' gay pride lawsuits

[Scott]

Court throws out firefighters' gay pride lawsuits

By MICHELLE R. SMITH

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The Rhode Island Supreme Court has thrown out lawsuits brought by two Providence firefighters who said their constitutional rights were violated when they were ordered to drive a truck in a gay pride parade despite their religious objections.

The firefighters, Theodore Fabrizio and Stephen Deninno, argued that they are Roman Catholics and therefore do not support or condone homosexuality.

Justice William Robinson, writing for all five members of the high court this month, said the men appeared in the 2001 parade as public servants who were "relatively anonymous." He called it a legitimate work assignment.

http://news.yahoo.com/court-throws-firefighters-gay-pride-lawsuits-190045135.html

[Scott]

Apparently everyone doesn't enjoy a parade.

[isanbirder]

I must say that I sympathise with the firefighters here . Not because I',m a Catholic, though I am, but because I don't think anyone should be forced to take part in a gay event of any kind. If we want free will to express ourselves, we should also allow it to others.

[Caitrin]

I agree with Isanbirder, I don't agree with the judge that this was a legitimate work assignment UNLESS they're the designated public relations officers for the station/department. That's totally within line for public outreach. But if these are just normal firefighters, I feel like they should have had the option to trade the shift with more gay-friendly coworkers.

[Scott]

Personally, I think they are making a big thing about nothing. Because they are in a parade in a city vehicle there is no reason to believe they either gay or supporting anything gay. It's a little like the police being there.

Perhaps they are against fighting fires if gay people live in the house, or it is a gay bar?

The Judge made the right decision. Freedom of speech and expression has limitations and that sometimes stops at your place of employment, where you may be required to associate with people with whom you disagree. It's a bit of a tempest in a teapot.

A couple of guys who were seeking some money or fame.

[isanbirder]

But should a city truck be required to drive in a gay pride parade? That is essentially a private sector event.

But I agree it's a storm in a teacup.

[Scott]

I don't know the reasoning behind the decision to have the fire truck in the parade. If it was a part of the actual parade, the decision would have been made by the city council or some administrative body.

I know that in another situation, the local fire truck was always in the parade and it was for reason of protection. I actually don't remember the entire reasoning, but one of them was that the parade went past the fire station and in the event of a fire, it would be very difficult to negotiate past the parade, thus it was better to have the truck manned and ready for service.

In this case, I don't know, but maybe they needed a fire truck to hose down people if they got too hot!

Since a parade is planned in advance, they should have asked for volunteers. Or maybe it is a homophobic fire station.