The near-tears testimony of one of four firefighters suing San Diego for being forced to participate in the 2007 Pride parade isn’t generating a lot of sympathy in our office (surprise!).

Firefighter Alex Kane, who, along with Capt. John Ghiotto, Capt. Jason Hewitt and firefighter Chad Allison, had to take a break from testifying Tuesday, after describing the anger, confusion, humiliation, embarrassment and abandonment he felt during the parade and in its aftermath.

Confusion, humiliation, embarrassment and abandonment are big words for a little man.

We thought the firefighters and their lawsuit couldn’t disgrace this city any more; turns out, we were wrong.

Kane’s on-the-stand stunt Tuesday drew ire on The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Web site from users saying this cash-grabbing bunch needs to toughen up or find a new life calling.

Allison, who volunteered for search and rescue at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, said the stress and anxiety he felt following the Pride parade prompted him to seek counseling.

As an interesting aside, Allison attended eight memorial services following the terrorist attacks. The judge wouldn’t allow the deputy city attorney to ask whether Allison sought counseling following his work at the World Trade Center site. The question, however, is relevant.

These men have, assumedly, seen it all – exposed internal organs, charred bodies, severed heads – and the idea that a few men in square-cut shorts and thong bathing suits shouting lewd remarks traumatized the firefighters is preposterous.

In testimony, Kane said there were more than dozens – hundreds even – of incidents of harassment the firefighters faced along the parade route.

In context: if they’re to be believed, these firefighters faced comments (including “Show me your hose,” or “I need mouth to mouth”) from 100 of the 150,000 parade spectators, or less than one-tenth of one percent of the parade-going people during the mile-long, three-hour celebration.

What’s more interesting: Assistant Chief Jeff Carle and Deputy Chief Ken Malbrough testified that, though, in fact, the firefighters were forced to ride in the parade, Carle and Malbrough did not hear lewd comments or witness the objectionable behavior the firefighters claimed they saw (which included a man fondling himself atop a float).

The firefighters, initially, sought a policy change, so no other station would have to be subjected to participating in a parade involuntarily. The original policy, which we’ve still been unable to locate, was changed. Now, firefighters will only participate in parades on a volunteer basis.

How the situation turned from trying to effect change in policy to a multi-million dollar lawsuit is beyond us – but we’d bet the opportunist, crybaby firefighters had a push from their ultra-conservative attorney, Charles LiMandri.

It is unlikely anyone would have an inkling of sympathy had a firefighter who opposed affirmative action, for example, complained for being forced to ride in the Martin Luther King Jr. parade; or, had a firefighter who advocates for strict immigration laws complained after having been forced to ride in the César Chávez parade.

The firefighters’ argument is the Pride parade is a political event “designed to advocate for the rights of homosexuals, and in recent years to promote the controversial concept of gay marriage.” The suit alleges the city, by forcing the firefighters to ride in the parade, improperly used them to support a political cause.

The same could be said for participants required to ride in the Martin Luther King Jr. parade or the César Chávez parade, which, like the San Diego Pride parade, promote civic activism and community service.

Unfortunately, it’s still socially acceptable to discriminate against the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community – and these firefighters are taking advantage of that, to the tune of $750,000 apiece.

If City Attorney Michael Aguirre isn’t on his game with the city’s defense, and we are confident he will be, these sissies may be crying (or laughing) all the way to the bank.