A team of brave firefighters from the UK’s South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue are taking on the homophobic trolls who aren’t happy with the department’s message of acceptance and inclusivity.
It all started last year when the department added a rainbow flag to its Twitter profile picture. NBD, right? Wrong! A flood of nasty comments from online trolls quickly ensued.
Now, the department is pushing back.
The first responders have just released a video to prove a point: “Fires don’t discriminate, and neither do we.” In the video, they recite some of the most ridiculous hate tweets they received last year. And they do it whilst donning rainbow hats, socks, and flags.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“Last year we got a load of abuse when we added the rainbow flag to our profile picture,” the department says in a tweet. “We don’t think homophobic abuse is acceptable and we stand with all those LGBT+ people we serve and employ.”
Last year we got a load of abuse when we added the rainbow flag to our profile picture.
We don't think homophobic abuse is acceptable and we stand with all those LGBT+ people we serve and employ ????
Thanks for the comments… ?#LGBTHM2020 pic.twitter.com/kwzAvKWUjq
— South Yorkshire Fire (@SYFR) February 5, 2020
“We fully expect the video will have a mixed reaction but some of the comments we received last year were awful and totally unacceptable,” says Chief Fire Officer Alex Johnson.
“We’ve produced it for two reasons–firstly we wanted to support the month and let our staff, and communities, know that we are proud to employ and serve them, regardless of those comments,” he continues. “And secondly we wanted to demonstrate that we are a genuinely inclusive organization that values the contribution of all our staff, whatever their LGBT+ status.”
So far, the video has received nearly 370K views. The tweet has received almost 16K likes, 4K retweets, and 5K comments.
Related: These real Texas firefighters have something to show you
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Good on them!!
Haters are noxious pernocious hosebags…..
CurtisIsTheOne
Good. We need more “hosers” to put out the flames of intolerance. I also have a “thing” for firefighters.
dirk6665
As a gay fireman I can tell you that this kind of discrimination is simply ridiculous and I applaud the creators and folks involved in this video. If we are going to discriminate against gay public service then I guess its okay to say no LGBTQIA+ people can be your dentists / handymen / mailmen / florists / home builders… etc. – you get the point. The world is made up of different kinds of people – some of them are willing to lay down their lives to SAVE YOURS – are you really going to refuse being rescued because the person doing it is gay? In that moment I would doubt it. Its time people respect other people as human and not labels… we have plenty enough darkness festering in the world already – find something better for your energy. Be the person you want to see in the world.
sillyme
@dirk6665, I’m proud of all the first responders, I had met a fireman a very long time ago who is a friend of a co worker of mine from back then and this man could do just about anything he wanted to do and was very nice and a personable man who at the time was married to a woman and great looking. I will stand by any first responder for any reason like that and when I can I’ll even buy their meal as a small thank you for putting your life on the line daily for that reason and I don’t have the ability to do such but I have worked in a hospital setting and met lots of gay men and women that did the same there and they were all great people. Thanks dirk.
toddlicious
Clever and perfectly played. Well done.
Catholicslutbox
Who’s the hunk?