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| Toronto Mayor Rob Ford |
The Star's Urban Affairs Bureau Chief, David Rider, wrote in a separate article Friday that the mayor's office flatly denies that Ford is insulting or avoiding the Gay community.
Why the mayor seems to be shunning occasions involving homosexuals is being debated in many corners of Toronto’s gay community as the huge signature Pride festival gets underway.
Rob Ford’s office flatly denies that’s the case. But his decision to head to his cottage rather than the July 3 Pride parade — with no explanation for the festival’s nine other days — coupled with years of brow-raising comments and council votes, has many jumping to conclusions.
“He’s the mayor of a huge metropolis with a big gay community,” said Casey Oraa, chair of the Political Action Committee of Queer Ontario.
“His campaign was all about respect for taxpayers. Where’s his respect for us?”
Rider also noted:
Asked if he will attend any Pride events, the mayor said: “I’ll take it one day at a time. My family comes first.” Asked if he is homophobic, Ford looked away and mumbled something unintelligible under his breath.
Ford’s Pride decision follows his rebuffing of a half-dozen other similar overtures since last fall. His singular engagement with the gay community — signing the Pride Week proclamation — was done privately, with nobody from Pride present.
“Clearly it’s an ideological position,” Oraa said. “I’d respect him more if he would own up to his homophobia — say ‘This is what I believe.’”
The Mayor's brother, Toronto City Councillor Doug Ford says that accusing his brother of being homophobic is rubbish adding:
“If someone needs Rob’s help, he’s there for them. And again, he doesn’t ask if they’re gay, straight, purple, pink, white, whatever.”
The city's Gay community leaders are disappointed, calling for the mayor to act more inclusively as he had promised voters during his campaign for office he would.
In the Star's Editorial, the paper flatly stated that the mayor's actions sends the message that Toronto's LGBTQ community obviously doesn't "count for much in this mayor’s eyes. Their struggles aren't his; their celebrations mean little to him, and their opinion means even less."
Ford is surely not alone in clinging to such attitudes. And that’s the problem — by snubbing the Pride Parade, and giving concrete expression to his retrograde views, he encourages others in Ford Nation who think likewise. He encourages divisiveness.That’s the opposite of what a mayor of Toronto should be doing. This is one of the world’s most diverse and energetic municipalities. And a thriving lesbian and gay community is a key component in that diversity and in the dynamic creativity that’s become a hallmark of this city.Toronto’s mayor, whoever he or she may be, has an obligation to take part in the Pride Parade. It’s a measure of the degree that this community is welcomed as a vital part of the urban fabric
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1 comments:
While I realize that people have lives and families, even politicians, sometimes they need to make room for special events. In this case, the Pride festivities should certainly cause the Mayor's departure for his 'cottage' vacation to be put off for a few hours. That he doesn't do so, particularly when having been called on it, smacks of something unpalatable.
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