Patrick Smith
Forum Ride Along
- 9
- 0
- 0
I think mcdonl makes a good point. "Openly Gay" (a term I understand to refer to homosexual men) often seems to mean the kind of gay who tries to behave like a very, very silly teenage girl. You know the type... over swinging hips, extremely tight clothes, girl's revealing blouse, hair twisty around finger behavior, and the loose neck syndrome (lol!). This kind of person, be s/he a teenage girl or a gay always gives the strong impression of being immature and incompetent. Not someone I would instantly trust to give me healthcare treatment.
Toughening up, something I imagine EMT's do a LOT, is something that is commonly portrayed as masculine. The tough soldier with a gruff voice, stoic and strong, etc. It seems to me, and I could be very wrong, that many of the female EMT's, medics, etc, adopt this type of attitude / behavior when on duty. Again, I could be wrong. Toughening up does indeed tend to bring to mind (and you see this in history) the man of steel, gruffness, and somewhat flatline emotional level; not much emotional reaction to horrible sights and experiences. Police Officers, men AND women, do this, too. This is why so many police officers become so detached from emotional pain or experience break downs later in life after a long hard career. It's hard!
I have absolutely no problem with gay or lesbian personnel, but when they behave as is their orientation is more important than how the public views the "professionallity" of the emergency response personnel, it's simply inappropriate. To me, it would be no different than if a female muslim EMT wanted to wear a burka on duty. That is a VERY extreme example, though.
Bottom line for me is if what the gay/lesbian EMT's are doing does not interfere with the professional image and performance of the emergency response service, I have no problem with it.
Personally, I don't like people being gays/lesbion. It's not that I don't like the people or would ever refuse to work with them (unless they were making repeated advances towards ME at which point I would simply file a complaint), it's just that I don't think being gay or lesbian is something people should be. It's purely a moral issue for me, and I would never bring it up to a gay person I worked with. I'm not judging gay's souls by any means and I don't condemn them to Hell, either... no matter their beliefs, they're people like me. I would never refuse to shake one's hand or work with one. The ones who behave maturely, i.e. don't rub it in everyone's face, and take their job seriously deserve just as much respect as anyone.
Just to clarify the first paragraph, I am certainly not saying that all gays are like the one depicted in the first paragraph. That is just one type of person I have seen quite often around here. I understand that there are others who work hard and behave very well. No offense intended, and I don't intend to state my opinion or beliefs in a manner that would indicate all others as false.
Regards!
Toughening up, something I imagine EMT's do a LOT, is something that is commonly portrayed as masculine. The tough soldier with a gruff voice, stoic and strong, etc. It seems to me, and I could be very wrong, that many of the female EMT's, medics, etc, adopt this type of attitude / behavior when on duty. Again, I could be wrong. Toughening up does indeed tend to bring to mind (and you see this in history) the man of steel, gruffness, and somewhat flatline emotional level; not much emotional reaction to horrible sights and experiences. Police Officers, men AND women, do this, too. This is why so many police officers become so detached from emotional pain or experience break downs later in life after a long hard career. It's hard!
I have absolutely no problem with gay or lesbian personnel, but when they behave as is their orientation is more important than how the public views the "professionallity" of the emergency response personnel, it's simply inappropriate. To me, it would be no different than if a female muslim EMT wanted to wear a burka on duty. That is a VERY extreme example, though.
Bottom line for me is if what the gay/lesbian EMT's are doing does not interfere with the professional image and performance of the emergency response service, I have no problem with it.
Personally, I don't like people being gays/lesbion. It's not that I don't like the people or would ever refuse to work with them (unless they were making repeated advances towards ME at which point I would simply file a complaint), it's just that I don't think being gay or lesbian is something people should be. It's purely a moral issue for me, and I would never bring it up to a gay person I worked with. I'm not judging gay's souls by any means and I don't condemn them to Hell, either... no matter their beliefs, they're people like me. I would never refuse to shake one's hand or work with one. The ones who behave maturely, i.e. don't rub it in everyone's face, and take their job seriously deserve just as much respect as anyone.
Just to clarify the first paragraph, I am certainly not saying that all gays are like the one depicted in the first paragraph. That is just one type of person I have seen quite often around here. I understand that there are others who work hard and behave very well. No offense intended, and I don't intend to state my opinion or beliefs in a manner that would indicate all others as false.
Regards!
Last edited by a moderator:
