Harassment Complaint

Q: You could not even look at the crowd without getting some type of sexual gesture,” Ghiotto said in the complaint. “The experience left me feeling humiliated, embarrassed and offended by this event.” Women with clits bigger than his cock?

A: Fire department spokesman Maurice Luque said the fire crew was chosen because its fire Station 5 on Ninth Avenue in Hillcrest is in the community where the parade took place. Luque said another crew had volunteered, but bowed out for personal reasons, including a family death, the day before. Jarman, who is a lesbian, said the fire department has participated in community parades and festivals, including 15 years at the gay pride parade, without a sexual harassment complaint. While I was sitting there waiting for the parade to start, I felt that I was forced against my will to be at the Gay Pride Parade and forced to see men in tight shorts dancing provocatively and other men kissing and hugging wearing sexually suggestive material on T-shirts with writing 'Girth and Mirth,' 'Suit Up Before You Dive In,' according to the complaint. “I was forced into a situation that would compromise what I hold true and what I believe in, my reputation, my character, my integrity, my morals, and my religion," the complaint says. The firefighters’ lawyer sent a letter to the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing last week, seeking approval to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. “The damage has already

been done,” said Brian Rooney, a spokesman and attorney for the Thomas More Law Center, which is representing the firefighters. “By participating in this parade wearing the uniform, the perception is clear that they support this type of parade and that is not what they want to convey to their community, their wives and children and their churches." The firefighters want a change in policy so other colleagues won’t face the same situation. Fellow firefighters have commended them for filing the complaint, said Charles LiMandri, the West Coast director of the Thomas More Law Center, a not-for-profit public interest law center, and a San Diego-area attorney.