SAN DIEGO -- Four San Diego firefighters were sexually harassed during a gay pride parade, their attorney said Tuesday, but a lawyer for the city said the plaintiffs were angry about having to participate and never voiced their fears to supervisors.

John Ghiotto, Jason Hewitt, Chad Allison and Alex Kane were given a direct order to drive a fire truck in the July 21, 2007, parade after a crew from another station backed out at the last minute, their attorney said in his opening statement.

Charles LiMandri said the firefighters -- whose civil case is being retried -- were "humiliated and demoralized" after the parade and filed suit after exhausting all other efforts, including meeting with Chief Tracy Jarman, who told them they needed to serve the community.

A jury last October deadlocked on whether the plaintiffs were sexually harassed during the parade. The panel also rejected a claim that Hewitt was retaliated against when he was trying to make captain, a rank he later attained.

LiMandri told jurors Tuesday that the San Diego Fire Department has had problems for years getting volunteers to ride in the annual gay pride parade, which began in 1974.

He said Ghiotto, a captain, Hewitt, Kane and Allison were ordered to take part when another crew backed out three days before the event.

LiMandri said his clients were subjected to cat-calls, simulated sex acts, suggestive hand and tongue gestures and even people touching themselves and exposing their genitals.

When the firefighters looked away, some parade-goers shouted obscenities at them, their attorney said.

LiMandri said the plaintiffs' supervisors heard some of the comments but did not do anything. The attorney said the firefighters told their bosses that they didn't want to be in the parade.

"My clients made it known ... that this was not something they wanted to do," LiMandri told the jury.

The attorney said the Fire Department had three days to get another volunteer crew and recruit another captain to drive the fire truck.

The department has now changed its policy and uses volunteers to staff such events, LiMandri said.

"Our dispute is how this particular dispute was handled," LiMandri said.

He said the firefighters received threats after filing their lawsuit.

The attorney said Ghiotto took a 5 percent pay cut, setting him back $14,200, after losing his status as a medical officer, and Allison had counseling costs of $100.

In his opening statement at the retrial, Deputy City Attorney Don Shanahan said 150,000 people from all walks of life turned out for the 2007 gay pride parade, and most were supportive of law enforcement, including the Fire Department.

"It was a parade of celebration," Shanahan told the jury. "You don't have a parade without a fire department truck."

The San Diego Fire Department is run like a military organization, and its personnel "don't get to pick and choose what orders they choose to obey," Shanahan said.

He said the plaintiffs' supervisors knew the firefighters didn't want to ride in the parade and were angry about it, but at no time did they mention that they were afraid of being sexually harassed.

"Uncomfortable is different than being sexually harassed," Shanahan said.

Shanahan said whatever activity the firefighters experienced, it was not severe or pervasive.

"It wasn't bad," Shanahan told the jury.

After the lawsuit was filed, the plaintiffs appeared on radio and television outlets to make their case, the attorney said.

"It's their right to go public, but don't blame it on the Fire Department," Shanahan told the jury.