'Identity training' for New York firefighters sparks criticism inside and outside the department: ‘Insulting, weird, and wrong’

Gender identity training at the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) has drawn criticism from within and outside the department.

One active duty firefighter told The Daily Signal, “This is a giant sick joke. No one takes it seriously.” The media outlet shared the contents of the video which members of the department are required to see before December.

The video, according to the same media outlet, uses an illustration called "The Genderbread Person." The image is intended to show the difference between gender identity, attraction, expression and sex:

"It’s scientifically inaccurate," said the same FDNY source, "And having it explained to you as if you were a 4-year-old in a condescending manner by a cartoon gingerbread man is insulting, weird, and wrong."

Previous complaints seem to indicate that the image has been used in schools as educational content. On its own website, the creator of "The Genderbread Person" asks users to share it with "your educator friend."

The Department of Veterans Affairs also used a version of the illustration in one of its trainings:

According to The Daily Signal, the FDNY course also includes images of celebrities such as trans actress Laverne Cox and a voiceover segment that talks about genitalia: "If you haven’t already talked about penises and vaginas, we need to talk about penises and vaginas."

It also includes questions for the firefighters to answer, such as "What two words does the Q stand for in the LGBTQ+ acronym?"

In addition to the criticism it sparked within the department, it led to uproar on social media.

New management... same problems?

"The FDNY offers such trainings to promote awareness and understanding for our members," a department spokeswoman told the same outlet. She further stated that they are necessary to comply with a city order requiring agencies to allow individuals to access facilities such as restrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identity, without the need to show some sort of proof.

Beyond the spokeswoman's comment, newly appointed commissioner Robert S. Tucker did not comment on the controversy. When he was appointed in August, Mayor Eric Adams alluded to “(cultural) flames that are actually burning inside the agency," statements that department sources publicly claimed had generated their own “internal fires.”

Adams and the agency were also in the eye of the storm mid-year, following the death of a former firefighter who local authorities had fired months earlier due to budgetary difficulties. There was controversy, at the time, due to having to lay off employees to allow for the migrant crisis budget.