A Catholic leader has condemned the decision to discipline nine firefighters for refusing to hand out safety leaflets at a gay pride march.
Archbishop of Glasgow Mario Conti described the disciplinary action against the Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service (SFR) staff as "dismaying".
The nine officers were rapped by SFR after disobeying orders during the Pride Scotia rally in June.
Some of the crew involved argued at the time of the gay march that it would be embarrassing for them to turn up in uniform to the event, while others claimed it would contradict their moral beliefs.
Bosses have ordered the group, from Glasgow's Cowcaddens station, to undergo intensive "diversity training" as part of their punishment.
One of the men involved, a watch manager, was reduced to the rank of crew manager, losing an estimated £5,000 in salary. The others have all received official written warnings about their behaviour.
But Archbishop Conti said he understood the firefighters' concerns about appearing at the march dressed in uniform.
He said: "There was no question of these officers' competency or commitment being called into question, nor was there any suggestion that they were refusing to come to the assistance of people in danger.
"They were asked, while in uniform, to hand out leaflets during a demonstration where they had legitimate concerns about being the subject of taunts and jokes and in which, in some cases, their religious sensibilities would have been grossly offended by people dressed as priests and nuns lampooning the church. That the officers concerned are being forced to undergo 'diversity training' is alarming. The duty to obey one's conscience is a higher duty than that of obeying orders."
Fire chiefs said the nine, members of Cowcaddens' Red Watch, had now accepted that they should have performed their duties at the festival. In a strongly worded statement, SFR said the officers' refusal to hand out the leaflets represented a "fundamental breach of their core responsibilities", adding that they could not "pick and choose" who they offered safety advice to.
