Firefighters/rescue personnel do not inquire as to the ethnicity, race, sex, religion, etc., of the people they are tasked to protect or if necessary, assist. We do not care. (Age does come into it at times--mostly because any time we hear infants or children are involved, our adrenalin goes way up and so does our heart rate. It is also a consideration for the guys/gals doing entry. With an infant or child, we wouldn't hesitate to enter a structure with only an attack line and just trust the protection line and RIT will be along ASAP. Infants and children cannot take as much heat/smoke as older folks. Also, people with disabilities tend to tug at our heart strings. I have never heard a firefighter inquire as to the sexual orientation, marital status, religion, sex, of someone needing help. I once did mouth-to-mouth on a guy and it was a situation in which we just didn't have the time to get a protective mask. He and I certainly touched lips. I have no idea whether he was gay or not. Nor do I care. Knowing his sexual orientation would not have changed things one iota.

I think the notion of handing out brochures at a parade is a foolish one. Brochures without explanations are like textbooks without explanation. If most people could learn that way there would be few teachers in the world because they wouldn't be necessary.

As a firefighter, I would never voice my view that Prime Minister Harper is a horse's ass. And if that horse's ass needed my help in a situation he'd get it without question. Same for George Bush, Osama bin Laden, Nasrallah, name it. If I had to do mouth-to-mouth on someone who is openly gay, I'd do it. Openly heterosexual, I'd do it. And that is why my personal preferences as to how 'I think a person should be' have NO bearing on the tasks I have as a firefighter. Two worlds, and they just don't meet on the fireground. So why should they meet in the public arena?