http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=1285772It's been a long legal battle, but San Diego firefighters are rejoicing in the final outcome of their complaint about being ordered by their city to participate in a "gay pride" parade.
An appeals court had earlier ruled in favor of firefighters who sued after they were forced to participate in San Diego's annual homosexual "pride parade" in 2007. Alliance Defense Fund attorney Joseph Infranco tells OneNewsNow what the firefighters endured.
"These firefighters were subjected to hours of just graphic, lewd exhibits and gestures and catcalls and all that sort of thing," says the attorney. The original complaint filed in the case stated "you could not even look at the crowd without getting some type of sexual gesture."
Adds Infranco: "...It's shocking to think that the city would tell firefighters that they have to participate in a parade and be subjected to all this sort of lewd, sexual behavior."
Joe Infranco (ADF)The state Supreme Court last week refused to hear the case, leaving the lower court ruling intact -- and those making the appeal nowhere else to turn. The attorney says this final outcome delivers several clear messages.
"This tells the city -- and other cities in California as well -- that they have to respect both the moral and religious beliefs of city employees, that you cannot compel people to take part in these events in a way that violates their conscience, and that there are limits on what a city can do," he stipulates.
Infranco adds that homosexual advocates wanted to disregard a jury verdict that represented the voice of the community and the peers of the firefighters, but the courts have halted part of that agenda.
Attorney Charles LiMandri, who represented the firefighters, adds that the ruling also "sends a strong message to people about what the gay pride parades are really like."
Topic: Verdict stands, firefighters win...message sent (Read 449 times)