GaydarNation

(Secaucus, New Jersey) A Secaucus gay couple whose dream home turned into a nightmare are suing the town's volunteer fire department for a list of civil rights violations.

When Peter de Vries, 55, and Timothy Carter, 45, bought the house they knew it was beside a fire hall, but figured they'd get used to the occasional noise from the sirens as the volunteer fire-fighters raced to a blaze.

What they hadn't counted on was the homophobic attitude at the North End Firehouse once the crew realized the new neighbours were gay.

In their suit de Vries and Carter allege harassment, discrimination, retaliation, negligence and violation of state civil rights laws. It names the fire department, the town, the police department, Fire Chief Frank Walters, Town Administrator Anthony Iacono, Mayor Dennis Elwell and 30 unnamed individuals as defendants.

In one incident fire-fighters were having a "boisterous" party outside the fire hall. The couple asked them to quiet down and the fire-fighters retaliated by throwing rocks at their house and issuing death threats to the men, according to the suit.

The couple filed a complaint which was turned over to the Bias Crimes unit at the state Attorney General's Office in May. The investigation is "ongoing" and no charges have been laid.

The lack of action in the case led Vries and Carter file a civil suit in state Superior Court in Jersey City.

The couple wants damages for loss of wages, pain, suffering, stress, humiliation, mental anguish and emotional harm and the "physical manifestation of their emotional injuries," including migraine headaches, chest and stomach pains and depression.

They also are asking for reimbursement for medical expenses, punitive damages and attorneys' fees. And they want the force department to initiate training programs regarding tolerance for gay men and women.

"They live in a constant state of fear and anxiety," their lawyer Neil Mullen told the Jersey Journal.

"They've been affected physically and emotionally. They have changed the routes along which they walk. Firemen have driven by and shouted crude epithets at them.

"Attacks on them have happened repeatedly since the investigation began," he continued.