January 17, 2008
Incendiary Letter Sparks Fire Department Investigation
NBC4 reports today on an investigation launched by the D.C. Fire Department after an allegedly insensitive letter was read aloud at the Engine 30 firehouse in Northeast. According to the report, the letter, read by the station's lieutenant, was supposed to be a humorous attempt at introducing a new crew member. Instead, the letter included what was seen as potentially disparaging remarks, implying he's gay.
The lieutenant was asked more than once to stop reading the letter, and it isn't known who wrote it. NBC4 included the following excerpt in its report:
Boy George is his favorite singer. He's originally from Calvert County, but looking for a one-room, two-person apartment in the Dupont Circle area.
Officials did not reveal who specifically the letter referred to, or whether or not the subject is indeed gay. Being a fan of Boy George or wanting to live in Dupont Circle, considered D.C.'s LGBT neighborhood, doesn't necessarily mean that one is gay of course, but can imply it.
Rick Rosendall of the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance said, "This is another illustration of the need for diversity training for everyone at Fire/EMS. Unfortunately, the humor is lost on gay people and transgender people who have experienced discrimination and harassment from the department."
Photo by Ohad
|
They suck. They really, really suck. After everything they've done to endanger the lives and jobs of GLBT people, they ought to fucking know better at this point.
Y'know being a reformed homophobe (I was cured by a gay boss many years ago) I can maybe, kind of, sort of understand why someone might think something like that was funny and/or OK. What I will never understand is people who continue to plow ahead after being asked to stop and their audience makes it clear that what they're saying is neither funny nor appropriate.
This lieutenant should be fired for being too stupid to take a hint.
I agree with Hillrat. It's one thing to haze a newbie and, in a macho place like the Fire Department, making gay references is, I believe, a semi-acceptable practice.
But I don't get why the guy kept on reading once people started saying it was an offensive letter and that he should stop.
I am anti-sensitivity training (too Orwellian for me). I am, however, pro-termination of dumbass employees lacking any ounce of common sense. Especially if those employees are in a leadership position and their actions clearly demonstrates they were promoted way ahead of their actual abilities.
how's this for a thought:
it seems to me that watching something like 'the office', if you have no experience talking to, interacting with, or being around gays, minorities, women, etc., can give you a great example of how not to initiate conversations with people you might be awkward interacting with. maybe that's what happened with this guy.
but what the hell do i know...
Now, I'm torn on this one. I know I'm supposed to be a good 'mo and tow the party line, expressing my shock and outrage.
But I'm also an ex fireman, and I'm just not shocked by hazing of new fire members, including off-color jokes. I heard a lot of gay jokes in the fire department, and for whatever reason I just didn't take offense. Could be because they were usually pretty light-hearted, and not really followed up with any particular hatin-on-gays rhetoric.
As far as gay jokes go, this one was so damn tame that it's almost unfunny because of it's timidity. Now, if they'd really wanted some gay jokes, I'd be happy to provide a few for them.
Sortof depends on the spirit and circumstance it was delivered in.
Wow, I'm offended primarily by how bad the 'jokes' were. A one-bedroom, two-person rental in Dupont? Guffaw! Who wrote that, Jay Leno?
Gives a whole new meaning to the term "low-hanging fruit".
I find this less offensive as homophobia than as piss-poor comedic standards.
Seriously...Boy George? Dupont Circle? Weren't those hackneyed cliches over about 15 years ago? How about trying Mika and Logan Circle (or maybe even SoMA if you want to sound pretentious).
But, I guess we are dealing with DCFD, so it's lucky these guys can even read.....
I don't get it. WTF does this guy being gay have to do with anything? Why would this even come up in a workplace introduction? When they introduce new black firefighters, do they put on blackface and do a minstral show? Do Asian firefighters have to put up with the old Hong Kong Phooey hazing ritual, involving plates of chop suey and flied lice? And didn't we just deal with the same crap with the cops broadcasting racist radio bulletins and emails?
And golf clap for the headline. Bra. Vo. I'd also suggest "Torrid Letter about 'Flaming' Newcomer Puts Fire Chief in Hot Seat."
Actually Boy George is still around, mostly as a DJ and rehab-survivor. And general wit. The Boy has quite the caustic sense of humor.
Monkey:
I may be wrong, and I think MPD refused to release a bunch of it, but weren't the cops radio broadcast and emails more along the lines of actual racist/gender/orientation slurs, rather than jokes?
The problem here is that these people are representatives of the DC Government and as such, should act like it - particularly if it involves a lieutenant. There are employment anti-discrimination laws within DC and this scenario borders the line between offensive and light-hearted.
I agree that these seem mild. But, that doesn't make it any more okay that a lieutenant made the remarks, even after being asked to stop. The mere concept that he thought making gay jokes at a work function, regardless of how tame they are, should have set off a red flag in his head.
Hillman, that seems kind of like a thin distinction: slurs vs jokes. Kinda like the difference between cracking a dead baby joke and talking about how a co-worker put wheels on her miscarriage.
To the extent the lieutenant and other employees do not 'get it' (what the 'big deal' is), replace the stupid joke about gays with stupid jokes about blacks or jews, etc. and see if a light bulb turns on in their [dim] heads....
Bad idea? Definitely. Poor taste? Yes. But I'm of the opinion that things that fall under the umbrella of 'locker room humor' (whether funny or not) should stay in the locker room. I guess being someone that has gay friends that call things 'gay' makes you realize that all of this stuff is pretty inconsequential.
Oh wow. IT'S BAAAAAACK.
The blogging trainwreck that is The Whitman DC Condo Blog: http://thewhitmandc.blogspot.com/
You have GOT to check out this blog to believe it!
I'm NEVER going to buy a condo.
Now, I'm torn on this one. I know I'm supposed to be a good 'mo and tow the party line, expressing my shock and outrage.
It's OK not to toe the party line and think for yourself.
A friend of mine was outraged that I have so much hostility towards Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton; two douche-guzzling assholes that I, as a Black person, am supposed to support without hesitation or reservation.
"I guess being someone that has gay friends that call things 'gay' makes you realize that all of this stuff is pretty inconsequential."
Unfortunately, calling something "gay" in the off the cuff slang (i.e. that's so gay) is still offensive, regardless of who says it. In fact, gay people calling things or people gay are actually being ignorant, all the while they claim a double standard.
If the jokes were said in the locker room, in a non-DC government run institution, that would be one thing. But this was presented to co-workers, which I assume includes subordinates, in a DC Firehouse and that is what's wrong with it. The lieutenant decided to mock a new employee by implying he was gay. By condoning this, you leave open the door for more aggressive bashing. Clearly if the press has gotten a hold of this, someone in that room was offended.
If this was the private sector, there would definitely be a lawsuit in the works.
Rat:
Agreed.
I find that designated 'gay leadership' folks often don't represent me too well. We have our Sharptons and Jacksons as well. Actually, Sharpton would have made a great gay activist - colorful, snappy dresser, inflammatory, makes headlines out of thin air, etc....
The gay leadership folks don't speak for all us 'mos on everything. Sometimes they forget that. I admire what they do generally, but they make a lot of assumptions, assuming all gays are out and proud urban dwellers, all hardcore leftist, that we are all horrified over a gay joke in a firehouse, etc.
I agree with other posters in theory.... that these fire dept folks are on the job, representing DC, and are DC employees. They probably shouldn't be making such jokes, even if meant light-heartedly. Still, it's just hard for me to muster much outrage, at least without hearing more of the details.
When EMS personnel stopped treating the transgender person a few years back when they cut her clothes off and found a weenie, that was a cause for outrage. This, I'm not so sure.
Invisible Sun: "To the extent the lieutenant and other employees do not 'get it' (what the 'big deal' is), replace the stupid joke about gays with stupid jokes about blacks or jews, etc. and see if a light bulb turns on in their [dim] heads...."
Everyone should repeat this until they 'get it.'
I just reject these concepts that:
A) something can be offensive *in the abstract*
B) jokes are inseperable from condoning actual conduct.
C) You can use laws to change what people think by changing what's permissible to say.
Viz. ever made a murder joke? Do you think that really has anything to do with how acceptable society deems homicide, or how likely it is to happen?
If you're in an FD, you will be made fun of for whatever is the most discernible distinguishing characteristic you have, and if they've got nothing "gay" will be the default.
All of which I would use to say that throwing out an off the cuff gay joke is ridiculous to care about.
But I do have to side with the people who want to use *reading an entire printed letter* that you had *clearly had a day or two to think about* *in front of your subordinates* and then *keepin' on rocking after they put up the flag that it was becoming a problem* is the kind of thing that:
A) Goes too far and starts to make you wonder where the line is, if not here,
B) Works as a good proxy for "too dumb to serve effectively as manager / officer"
Thanks SHEWHOISTHAT [Comment 20].
I have a new concern, though. If, as WOV [Comment 21] (rightly) observes that the lieutenant is 'too dumb to serve effectively as manager', query whether s/he would be able to ever 'get it'?
this is much to do about nothing...a freakin letter? suspend the guy and give him some down home diversity training and move on. Why do people get upset over other people's ignorance?
Zippy, because firemen, believe it or not, are typically considered role models. And by reading a letter to subordinates like this one sets a horrible example of what acceptible behavior should come from role models.
As a former police officer who also happens to be gay, I can't help but laugh my ass off at this.
When I was on the job, people knew I was gay but for most of them it wasn't an issue. Sure they'd bust out the wise-ass comments from time to time about virtually every group, minority, majority, whatever but it was more a friendly jab than anything else.
There is a bond between emergency personnel that cannot be understood by people standing on the sidelines. When it's a distinct possibility that you may die or have to save the life of your partner every shift, there is a tendency to laugh at everything else. As well you should. When you deal with the shit the citizenry heaps on you constantly, it's a great escape to be able to laugh at the most inappropriate and off-color themes.
My sgt. would constantly call me a f@g and I would respond with some raunchy comment about his wife's panties. Our comments would make even the most seasoned of you blush. It's the gutter humor that made us go on. This is pretty innocuous.
I have to agree with you about the citizenry heaping shit on fire, ems, police, though. Some funny, some not so funny.
The folks that get it the worst on a daily basis is parking enforcement. Man, the stuff those ladies put up with is astounding. All for what can't be much money.