FDNY Getting its First Lesbian Chaplain

The FDNY is getting a new chaplain.

The Rev. Ann Kansfield will be the first female and the first openly gay chaplain in New York City's fire squad.

Kansfield is to be sworn in on Tuesday. She'll be the department's eighth chaplain. Six are Christian and one is Jewish.

She's a pastor at Greenpoint Reformed Church in Brooklyn.

FDNY chaplains' duties include providing counseling to firefighters and department personnel and performing blessings and invocations. They work part-time.

The class of recruits who graduated the FDNY training academy in 2013 was one of the most diverse in the department's history. The FDNY currently has 44 female firefighters.

Kansfield tells The New York Times it would be great if she could be part of the effort to diversify the FDNY.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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