Historic Lewes Speaker Series – Alarm in the Firehouse! Workplace Discrimination
In the early 1980s, Kevin Mallinson, an openly gay man, joined the Key West Fire Department. Over the subsequent years, he became the target of fierce and unrelenting homophobia taunts and assaults intended to force him out of the department. Even today, there is widespread acknowledgement that LGBTQ firefighters and emergency personnel face discrimination, intimidation, and harassment in the workplace. Dr. Mallinson uses his unique experience and sense of humor to facilitate public discourse about homophobia, racism, and misogyny and works to assure that fire departments can recruit and retain talented personnel from diverse communities.
About R. Kevin Mallinson, PhD, RN, FAAN
R. Kevin Mallinson, PhD is a retired university professor and HIV researcher who advocates for disenfranchised groups, particularly LGBTQ+ communities and persons with – or at risk for – HIV disease. He is a public speaker who has addressed national and international audiences on six continents. Dr. Mallinson’s recently published memoir documents his years as America’s first openly gay professional firefighter. His recreational interests have included gardening, running, scuba diving, skydiving, and bungy jumping. He and his husband have one son and live in their colonial era home in Lewes, Delaware.