Bigotry at the Fire Hall

[LillFilly]

My friend is a professional photographer, everything from weddings to modeling portfolios to shooting a drag queen calendar; the last of which are some really nice and funny people! He was doing the photography for an event that had signed-up to use the fire hall in a nearby town. There was a group of drag queens, and another of female models, at this event to have portraits done. There were other professionals there to do makeup, wardrobe, etc.

Just after the photography session got underway a firefighter from that local company came-into the hall (that was reserved by this group), marched-up to my friend and told him that he thought that the taking of such disgusting photos on such an important anniversary weekend(this happened Saturday the 10th, 2011) was wrong and disrespectful, that they should be ashamed allowing the women to dress like whores and for the men to be dressed like women and making a mockery of such a solemn occasion. He also insinuated that my friend, of course by taking part in this, obviously had no patriotism and didn't care about America. My friend calmly told this guy that he was a Desert Storm Vet and that he had fought to protect his FREEDOM to participate in activities such as this and to take these photos, and that he did not agree with the firefighter's opinion. The firefighter went red at that and my friend thought the guy was going to swing at him. The guy left grumbling and the group thought that was the end of it.

No. The firefighter raised such hell that the chief of the local company came and revoked the groups' use of the fire hall; saying that they hadn't gotten permission from the right person anyway, demanded that they leave the property immediately, and that any photos that had been taken on the property could not be used by my friend (who was using props and backdrops; you would no know where they had been taken).

My friend is livid. I am in a rage, and told him he should complain to that town. He said it won't matter, because it is a small conservative town who would take the side of their own officials over deviant outsiders. I think at least a letter to our own town's paper would help shine light on this intolerance. The assumptions and accusations thrown at my friend's group were not right, and the participants were horribly embarrassed by this town official. Isn't that supposed to be one of the great things about this country is that you have the freedom to dress in silly costumes or men in dresses? Unfortunately for that town, my friend's uncle has always been a big supporter every time their fire company has asked for donations. After learning about this, he is not going to donate to them this year, and will tell them to thank their own chief for that.

[kibbles]

Go to the media and make a fool of the hick town..that's what your friend should do.

[tropicsgoddess]

Go to the media and make a fool of the hick town..that's what your friend should do.

I agree completely. That Chief really made an ass of himself and just lost a big supporter.

[ArcticChicken]

any photos that had been taken on the property could not be used by my friend (who was using props and backdrops; you would no know where they had been taken).

Just an idea, and it may be a bad one, if he was using props and backdrops, how would they know he was using the photos from the shoot?

Also, he might want to check with a lawyer, it's entirely possible they can't actually make him not use the pictures.

Go to the media and make a fool of the hick town..that's what your friend should do.

That I know is a bad idea, at least if he still wants to live there. Whoops, just re-read, yeah go ahead and embarrass them, he should just be prepared to never be able to use any space in town again.

[Tithera]

Media dog the hell out of them! I hate when people say "it's un-american to do this this this and this" when they want to complain about something that they themselves don't like. If you can't prance around in pretty costumes whenever you want, then it's going to be a very boring "american" time. Besides, he was probably mad when he found out that the hot chick he was oogling turned out to be a dude to be honest. Cause, I've seen some very pretty trannies before, who are almost always the sweetest dears ever. I love asking them for make-up advice.

[Merriweather]

I would even consider contacting a local civil liberties group - revoking your permission to use the hall on some made up excuse because of the group that had rented it was definitely an act of discrimination. Isn't a firehall a public building? They could be in big trouble if they discrimate who they will rent to.

Yes, it was a solemn weekend - and a public event that mocked it (9-11 the Musical?) would have been in extremely poor taste - but you were having a private event that had nothing whatsoever to do with the calendar date. I'm sure many wedding receptions, birthday parties and other "non-solemn" events went on as usual this past weekend.

I would definitely take this farther - even the most hick of towns aren't entirely composed of intolerent people these days, and I'm sure you'd have some on your side.

[Andara Bledin]

Echoing the "media dog" sentiment, here.

^-.-^

[BrenDAnn]

I also agree with the sentiment of taking this to the media, or further in some way. You (or your friend) have got to stand up and make people aware that the sort of bigotry the fireman and the chief displayed is NOT acceptable. Let the media know EXACTLY what happened, where and who was involved. Let them try and stammer their way through an explanation. They won't be able to. If you can open a few eyes, just a few, to the hate--and YES, it is hate--happening right in front of their noses. then whatever consequences occur will be well worth it!

[fma_fanatic]

I really think that encouraging your friend to take it to the media, no matter how small the town is might open the eyes of people who think that elected/appointed officials can do no wrong. I'd also contact the local LGBT organization to make them aware of this. Drag queens fall under transgender/transvestite, and the firefighters words could be considered hate speech, as well as the local VFW and any other veterans association that has clout. Just reading this makes me angry.

[georgie]

i agree with everyone else. embarrass the hell out of them for being such bigots

[Ben_Who]

In these days of the Internet and news aggregate sites like Digg and Fark, it's amazing how easy it is for a small local story to break national. A lot of public officials have done what they thought was a good idea at the time until they start getting phone calls from CNN. One day, you're expelling a male student for wearing black nail polish, the next day Rachel Maddow is screaming about you.

Of course, you have no control over which stories break national, and this one might be met with a collective shrug, but if a reporter is willing to do a story, and that story appears online, you can at least post it to the news aggregates and see if it gets traction.

Considering this was a volunteer fire department, this could not have been a bigger mistake.

[georgie]

and it will make some people wonder if they dont want "those sort of people" in their building will they make any effort to help "those sort of people" if their home is burning.

[LillFilly]

I've told my friend all your sentiments. He's pretty set on not doing anything about it. I told him about calling local news, letters to the paper, etc. The most he'll do is put something on his blog. He is a very non confrontational person, to the point that he's let a lot of people walk all over him. I don't think I'll be able to convince him to do anything. I'm hoping that someone else from the group took it upon themselves to complain. He's convinced that the system is so corrupt that it will do him more harm than good to complain, and he just wants to put it behind him.

Still makes me mad though. I've seen enough of this myself, and it makes me sick that such judgmental people can get away with this crap.

[Andara Bledin]

With your friend being such a spineless doormat, is it possible that the other people at the event don't even know why they got booted?

With what you've said about him, I could totally see him deflecting the real reason just to keep himself from having to deal with any conflict around him.

^-.-^

[PepperElf]

Not to mention if your friend had signed up to use the hall... then everyone else who'd signed up to use it is also in violation if they signed up on the same list... after all the claim is that your friend asked "the wrong person" ... which means, everyone else asked the wrong person too.


as for permission to use the photos. as far as I know the venue itself will not be able to enforce that. as others have stated, backdrops were used so you cannot prove where they were taken, but more importantly... the photographer owns the rights to the images, not the venue iirc.

He might want to get an official copyright on the images however just to cover his butt. That way if the venue tries to order him around with his images he can tell them "lawyer up"

http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formva.pdf <-- link for filing