“It isn’t as prevalent with lesbian women working in a traditionally male field because the chemistry isn’t there. There is the realization that ‘the hunt and conquer’ instinct isn’t relevant for men in this type of situation. Lesbian’s aren’t interested in flirting, but are interested in comradery and building friendships.”
Richards noted a scenario that one might think would have transpired in California, but actually taught her more about her male colleagues back in Kansas. One of her female crew had been injured on the scene and was in the hospital, but this woman was also in the stages of a sex-change operation.
“The firefighters were able to put aside the issue of her transformation and see this individual as a firefighter, not male or female, but as a peer. I was really surprised and touched by a bunch of basically farm boy rednecks who were at the hospital day and night until they found out he/she was going to be okay.”
Richards was still excited about her job after a decade, which is more than most professionals could say, and most of it was from having just returned from the Women in the Fire Service Conference. The conference, held every two years to commune with other women firefighters around the world, gave her a lot to be excited about for the future of women in the service.
“One of the things we do at the opening ceremony [of the conference] is we say, ‘All the women that have ten years or more stand up. All the women with twenty years continue standing. All the women with thirty years …’ And there was somebody there who had thirty-five years in the fire service. I was in the number of women who had twenty years in, which is just phenomenal compared to what it was years ago.”
I watched as Richards smiled about her life stories in the fire service, her commitment to the job, no matter what, while she put on her bunkers for our photo shoot. Then I asked this woman who doesn’t seem to stop, what’s next?
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