Rescue Me

Two new videos have blown a hole in the stereotype that men and women in uniform are intolerant of LGBT folks. First up is a new ad by volunteer firefighters in Maine for Mainers United for Marriage. Featuring three straight firefighters and one gay one, the men talk about their support of each other and marriage equality.

"These guys are all straight,” says Michel in the spot. “So when I joined the department, I wondered how a brotherhood so tight like that would be accepting of someone who is gay.”

Shea says, “The brotherhood that we have is not the straight fireman’s brotherhood. It’s the firemen’s brotherhood.” Watch the video below.


Further down south (or next door if you're Louisiana resident like moi:), the Austin Police Department has filmed an Its Gets Better video. The clip contains the coming out stories of both officers and department personnel.

"I didn't want to call myself gay because gay meant you' re broken," one officer remembers. Another was afraid being gay might stop him from becoming an officer.

One woman cries as she remembers being told that being gay "is very biblically wrong and I don't want to see you go to hell."

Watch the clip below.