While a jury found last Tuesday that four San Diego firefighters were sexually harassed for being ordered to participate in the 2007 San Diego LGBT Pride parade and awarded them combined damages of $34,300, we still believe the cry from the so-called “traumatized” men was simply a false alarm. The overzealous reaction of department supervisors only added fuel to the fire.

Deputy City Attorney Don Shanahan even told jurors the department “bent over backwards” to satisfy the employees’ complaints.

After all, San Diego Fire Chief Tracy Jarman ordered the parade policy changed just days after the 2007 parade, so that, now, firefighters will only participate in parades on a voluntary basis.

But did she change the policy to protect the broader employee base or to simply put out the fire?

Clearly the response to extinguish the flames, er… flamers, led to a back draft that will leave a lasting effect on the GLBT community and Pride parades long after the smoke has cleared: The precedent has been set.

How the cry for help from the firefighters quickly changed from trying to effect change in policy to a roaring multi-million dollar lawsuit is still beyond us.

Of course a little help from Charles LiMandri, attorney for the firefighters never hurt things.

LiMandri requested up to $1 million for each client at the first trial last October, during which, if you remember, a jury deadlocked when it could not get nine jurors to agree that sexual harassment even occurred, despite the firefighters’ claim that they were subjected to sexually charged conduct and lewd comments while riding a fire engine in the July 2007 parade.

LiMandri didn’t propose damages this time around, but he urged the jury to compensate each firefighter. In the end he was left calling the awards “a little low,” but still said the verdict means no city employees will face similar treatment.

“That was the main thing,” LiMandri said outside the courtroom. “That’s what we’ve been fighting for, for one and a half years and two trials.”

But while the firefighters – who we openly called sissies in our editorial during the first trial – won’t be laughing all the way to the bank as hard as they would like, they still are laughing, because LiMandri won their point.

“Government employees should never be forced to participate in events or acts that violate their sincerely held beliefs,” LiMandri told reporters outside the courtroom after his victory. “We are pleased with the jury’s verdict recognizing the firefighters’ right to abstain from activities that they consider morally offensive and that subject them to harassment.”

Yet while the “moral” victory may be sweet for LiMandri, he’s complained that his expenses and cost have exceeded $1 million, and he’s even set up a relief fund to ask for help in paying the firefighters’ expenses.

Might we suggest that because as taxpayers we will likely wind up paying for your fees LiMandri that you donate the revenue generated from the San Diego firefighters’ fund to fight for marriage equality?

Oh, that’s right, as somebody commented on our Web site this week, it will likely instead go to help pay for that Rancho Santa Fe abode where you held the infamous Proposition 8 rallies.

Clearly it’s still socially acceptable to discriminate against the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community – and you need to be compensated for helping these firefighters take advantage of that. While it may not have been to the tune of $750,000 apiece asked for in the first case, the GLBT community has still been burned.

We hope you send Tracy Jarman a thank you note.