Jason Miller has spent 15 years in a job he loves. He’s an emergency medical technician working two jobs as a first responder, and he’s training to become a firefighter in Kokomo.
Miller loves the reward of helping others, he said, and the camaraderie among people whose inclination is to run toward danger.
For police, firefighters and EMTs, he said, backing each other up is “second nature.”
“We’re a tight-knit community,” he said.
So when Miller, 35, heard that a group of first responders was jumping into the legal fight over same-sex marriage, he signed on.
He is one of more than 100 active or retired firefighters, police officers and emergency medical workers who’ve signed a legal brief asking a federal appeals court to uphold same-sex marriage in Indiana for the sake of the families of gay first responders.
Among the signatories are a sheriff’s chaplain, big city detectives, small town dispatchers, and high- and low-ranking officers and firefighters.
“The idea that one of my colleagues in a same-sex relationship would die in the line of duty and his or her partner would get no state benefits is absurd,” said Miller. “They’re putting their lives on the line like everybody else.”
News of the friend-of-the-court brief, filed with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in anticipation of an Aug. 26 hearing, was announced at a press conference at an Indianapolis firehouse Monday.
Miller called it “groundbreaking” and likened it to NFL and NBA players welcoming gay athletes into their midst.
The workplaces of first-responders have long had a “macho culture,” he said, even as more women have joined the traditionally male professions.
“It’s groundbreaking when people come out and say, ‘You know what, as long as you can do your job and you can look after your fellow brothers and sisters out there in the line of fire, then it shouldn’t matter what your orientation is,” he said.
Ten state attorneys general, including Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, don’t see it the same way. In their legal brief opposing the federal court decision that overturned Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriage, they argue the state has a vested interested in protecting heterosexual marriage.
Protection is also the theme of the first responders’ argument.
Their brief points to a history of discrimination against gay and lesbian first responders within the ranks of police and fire departments. They argue that marriage equality would go a long way toward ending it.
“When our men and women in uniform finish a long day’s work – be they straight or gay – they should have the right to come home to their spouse,” their brief reads. “They should know that the states they serve and protect will honor their relationship, not strip away their dignity. …”
The symbolism of a public farewell is empty unless those relationships are honored, they argue.
“Most of all, our gay and lesbian public safety officers deserve the peace of mind of knowing that, after the bagpipe has wailed its last somber note and the flag has been folded, the loved ones they have left behind will be provided for.”
Since Miller put his name on the brief, he said he’s had nothing but support from colleagues. And he doesn’t expect anything different.
“So many people work with or know somebody in a same-sex relationship,” he said. “Once you know people as friends and co-workers, it’s hard to say to them, ‘You don’t deserve the same rights as I do.”