Posted on 01/21/2004 7:57:55 AM PST by presidio9
New York's firefighters are known by many names. Traditionally, they are called the Bravest. After 9/11, many called us the Heroes. Within the FDNY, some refer to themselves as the Brotherhood. Unfortunately, many firefighters have other names for their colleagues that are racial, ethnic or sexual slurs. I know, because I served more than 20 years in the FDNY, and I'm also a gay man. I heard those terms used and saw them scrawled on walls countless times in firehouses throughout the city.
On New Year's Eve, one firefighter attacked another in an assault preceded by what some newspapers are calling "a homosexual slur." The victim has been hospitalized with severe head injuries.
FDNY spokesmen call the assault an isolated incident resulting from "horseplay." Mayor Bloomberg called it an "altercation." Some reports have portrayed verbal harassment as a firefighter's rite of passage.
These descriptions are unbelievably dismissive. An anti-gay slur followed by a physical attack is not horseplay, whether the victim is gay or not. It is a hate crime. Likewise, the widespread use of slurs is not a harmless form of teasing. Its purpose is to create a climate of fear.
Such intimidation is not limited to gays. I often witnessed the outrageous harassment that women and minority firefighters endure. This overt cruelty is meant to create a work environment so unbearable that they will eventually quit the force.
Unfortunately, the hostility continues today. The FDNY is approximately 95% white. In 1982, when women first gained admission, 38 women became firefighters. Since then, only 11 more have been hired.
I know gay firefighters who survived the collapse of the World Trade Center. But despite braving the worst hell anyone can imagine, they are afraid to live openly as gay men within the Brotherhood. Of the 343 firefighters killed on 9/11, more than 20 were gay men, including two men who were partners in life and the Rev. Mychal Judge, the beloved FDNY chaplain.
Verbal abusiveness may be a tradition in the FDNY but it has nothing to do with creating good firefighters. It is also a violation of the law. For the mayor and the department's officials to tolerate a culture of prejudice is unacceptable and an insult to the gay, lesbian and minority firefighters who have given their lives in the line of duty.
I guess the "top half" must be lawyers, actors, and talk show hosts?
Rest easy, the "bottom half" will gladly rescue you from your burning Upper East Side loft, and their efforts abroad will keep your NASDAQ portfolio humming...
If my place is burning down, I don't give a damn if the firefighters are PC or not. What matters is if the fire is out, and everybody is safe.
Do you know that when Viacom (or whoever) released that benefit concert on video, they edited out the booing at hill and bill. Those bastards. I have it taped live though.
With these paragraphs, the writer is already discredited by mischaracterizing what happend. Reasons for the fight also include alcohol and one firefighter accusing the other of taking advantage of his colleagues. It wasn't simply because of slurs.
To the New World Order, the primary function of every organization is not their mission. It is to indoctrinate the organization to the values of the NWO. That being said, an assault is an assault. If two guys were goofing around and one got hurt, that's different. No person should be assaulted on the job by coworkers, but the purpose of this article is to create an impetus to require cultural diversity training in the FD.
Another shrill demand for "celebration". Sorry, Mr. Ryan. You are entitled to live as you please, and others are entitled to disapprove.
So, even though neither of the firemen involved in this fight were gay, it was a hate crime, because somebody said an anti-gay slur. Right.
And you have "personal, certain knowledge" that he was not always celibate? If so, I'm not sure I want to know where you got it.
Or who you plan on giving it to.
An accusation of homosexuality on a priest is a very serious charge. It is you who needs to document that chage.
And, yes, BTW, the vast vast majority of Catholic priests do honor their vows.
Yep. The one who got sent to the hospital had a rookie work his Thanksgiving shift, then worked the shift anyway to get extra overtime. The other guys were ragging on him for the next month about doing that.
Speaking of Hillary, Father Mike's was the one and only 911 funeral she attended. After the gay community decided to turn Judge into a martyr for their cause Hillary headed right up to her adopted home state to console them. 300+ other firemen received no such commiseration.
Father Mike reached out to a lot of people. If he were gay, his most likely way of dealing with it would have been to addressing it publicly: "Look, I'm a gay man, but with God's help I'm trying to be celibate."
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