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Why are we so scared in our culture of offended religious views? I agree that this event in itself may appear trivial, but what it does is send a clear message to the public that chosen religious beliefs are considered more important than innate sexual preference, and that it's ok to discriminate against gay people if you have religious grounds for doing so. So much for equality!

I'm a gay atheist, and I can honestly say that I've never discriminated against anybody on the grounds of their religious beliefs, but if I did, particularly during the course of my employment, I would expect to be sacked on the spot if not reprimanded by a court for religious intolerance. This is just a microcosm of a far wider and deeper issue that I'm sure will bring up far more conflicts in the future.

I, for one, am wholeheartedly jumping on the Atheist Bus in a bid to stop religious rights from stomping all over everyone else's. Who's with me??

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"Fire men should stick to saving lives and not going on marches. The facile veil of legitimacy given to this whole exercise by saying that firemen were sent to promote fire safety is rubbish."

The following recruited on the fire service website:

"Today's firefighter also works closely with the community to increase their level of awareness and so prevent incidents from occurring in the first place.

Being able to communicate effectively to schools, community groups, voluntary organisations and others is important, as is treating people with dignity and respect regardless of their background or culture."

The fire officer concerned was asked to carry out his duties as per paragraph one and was unwilling to do so in line with paragraph two.

The recruitment blurb goes on to state:

"The role of the firefighter is continually changing as new techniques and equipment are introduced. As well as responding to emergencies, you will also be expected to work closely with the community:

To prevent fire and accidents from starting in the first place.
Educating the community by visiting schools, community centres and people in their own homes.
Advising people about planning escape routes within their own homes in case of a fire.
Actively seeking to understand and to value diverse individuals and groups."

As part of the fire service interview process they follow a fixed question model.

Question 3:

“Describe a time when you have helped support diversity”

Question 13

“Give an example of a time when you have encountered different groups of people and tell us how you approached treating everyone as equals”

Based on all of this, I utterly fail to understand why this case was not argued out in tribunal. Its because of spineless little sh*ts like those at Strathclyde Fire and Rescue HR/Legal Services who haven't got the balls to carry cases like this through, we and other other minority groups continue to get the sh*tty end of the stick and god-bothering twats will continue to take the piss out of us and hapless employers who pay lip-service to implementing equality laws.

If Stonewall could take a minute or two out from slagging off Price Harry, they might serve the interests of our community better by taking Strathclyde Fire and Rescue to court for false advertising.

It is absolutely abhorrent that this guy should be allowed to get away with providing potentially life saving information to any subset of the community because he doesn’t endorse any aspect of their lifestyle and I find it disappointing that so many people have made comments that seem to suggest they think this is nothing more than political correctness gone mad.

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I thought firemen were suppose to be "macho" etc. Was that the only excuse those 9 guys could come up with? Sounds like a bunch of pussies to me. I wouldn't want them at my parade anyway.

I'm sure if he hates one group, he hates many others too. Maybe he should move to Rome, Italy and become personal boy to the Nazi Pope!

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Of course, when I hear about the fire service attending the next BNP conference to "Promote fire safety" then I will happily apologise and conceded that I was incorrect.

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I'm confident that LGBT people are confident enough in themselves and sufficiently committed to genuine public service not to contemplate such a childish and self-obsessed action but, as I said in my previous post, by arriving at a commercial settlement to save money by not going to trial, Strathclyde have opened up an area of confusion that might cost them dear in the long run as more bigots see a sudden conversion to religion as an opportunity to exploit the situation.

And Strathclyde are not the only ones this could rebound on. The Christian Institute might well regret the day they started to support these cases if it means that christianity gradually becomes little more than a repositry for those dregs of society who just want a copper bottomed excuse to hate.

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Strathclyde Fire Service are wrong in their handling of this case and certainly as a gay man I feel betrayed that money changed hands.

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There are considerable numbers of conservative Evangelical Christians who still share that same view.

If an Evangelical Christian was to refuse to hand out fire safety leaflets at some Roman Catholic public gathering, would they receive taxpayers' money as a reward for their refusal to do their job?

I think we know the answer to that!

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The point is, where does the discrimination stop due to religious beliefs. Would the fire officer refuse to enter a burning gay club to rescue people, as it offends his 'religion'.

This is the thin end of the wedge. Don't forget other religions will use this also. Next we will have taxi drivers refusing to pick up people who have been in a pub, or are carrying alcohol in their shopping as it is against Islam.

Or what about an islamic doctor refusing to reat an unmarried pregnant girl, or an alcoholic?

They could ALL use exactly the same argument.

Sadly, the Fire Brigade involved have just chosen what seems right now to be the easy route, but this issue will not stop here. Maybe once it starts to affect heterosexuals, people will take the issue more seriously.

As regards the case itself, I hardly see how handing out leaflets at Glasgow Gay Pride (which is actually pretty tame) can offend a person religious beliefs. He wasn't exactly asked to pole dance in a gay nightclub was he?

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Just because they wear uniforms doesn't automatically mean they're beyond reproach.

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