Mayor Rob Ford won’t attend a gay outreach event outside City Hall later this month, but still hasn’t ruled out attending Pride Week events this summer.
The May 17 rainbow flag-raising event at Nathan Phillips Square commemorates International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. The low-key, half-hour ceremony is not a part of Pride Week festivities, none of which Ford attended last year.
Event organizers Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays first sent the mayor an invitation in March. PFLAG’s Toronto chapter said Tuesdaythat the mayor responded in late April, saying he couldn’t fit the event into his schedule but if that changes, he would let them know.
“Certainly, the mayor will be made most welcome should his schedule change,” president Irene Miller said. “We would be happy to have him stand with us and other councillors as that flag is raised.”
Councillor Gord Perks will read the city proclamation, which is signed by the mayor, in Ford’s stead. Perks has read the proclamation at the event the last two years. The ceremony will feature Toronto Maple Leafs president and general manager Brian Burke as a speaker.
The intimate event attracts a smaller crowd and much less fervour than the rainbow flag-raising event that that marks the start of Pride Week. Last year’s ceremony had a crowd of about 60 people.
“We really try and make it something people might be able to squeeze into a calendar,” Miller said. “It’s low-key.”
On Tuesday, when asked what he makes of his brother’s decision not to attend a flag-raising ceremony, Councillor Doug Ford said the mayor “hasn’t made that decision yet.” But Doug Ford was referring to the Pride Week flag-raising event in June, not the smaller PFLAG event on May 17.
The mayor was in town for last year’s Pride Week flag-raising ceremony, but sent ally Councillor Frances Nunziata, who was loudly booed when she read a proclamation that began, “I, Mayor Rob Ford . . .”
Last month, Ford said he will once again skip the Pride Parade this year, saying he will be at his family cottage on Canada Day weekend and can’t commit to any event in the 10-day festival.
It’s the same reason he gave for missing the parade last year, which had been attended by Toronto’s previous three mayors in past years.
Ford resisted encouragement from Burke, whose late son Brendan was gay, and former mayor Mel Lastman. The mayor faced intense public backlash and accusations of homophobia for skipping the annual festival.
Last month, Ford left the door open to attending other events in this year’s June 22 to July 1 festival, saying he would “take it event by event.”
On Sunday, the mayor and his brother remained silent on their radio show as Sun News Network host David Menzies discussed Rob Ford fielding questions about his weight and health during his mayoral campaign. Menzies called the questions about Ford’s weight an example of “personal brutality” against him and referenced then-candidate and gay father George Smitherman.
“Could you imagine … if I was at that all-candidates meeting and I went to George Smitherman and I said, ‘You know what George, being a practising homosexual, and being the fact that you’ve been involved with all kinds of illicit drug use, how do we know you won’t engage in high-risk sex and drug use that will bring about HIV leading to AIDS, and you’ll die in office? I would be run out of town on a rail!”
When asked if he regrets not stepping in, Doug Ford distanced himself from Menzies’s remarks on Monday.
“He made his comments. He's a guest. That's up to him to make those comments. I know Rob and I, we wouldn't have made those comments,” he said.
Pride Toronto issued a statement condemning the comments on Monday.
“After good-faith efforts to acquaint the Fords with our communities, Pride Toronto is disappointed that these homophobic comments were aired unchallenged. These comments demonstrate the continued need for Pride as a celebration of our communities and cultures, and a space for proud expression of who we are.”
The statement added: “Pride Toronto stands in solidarity with people living with HIV/AIDS against bigotry and intolerance directed at them, and calls upon our elected officials to do the same.”
Miller said she reminds the mayor in her correspondence that PFLAG’s door is always open.
“The scheduling didn’t work out, but next year my invitation will go out earlier and I will continue to ask.”
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Michael Woods
The May 17 rainbow flag-raising event at Nathan Phillips Square commemorates International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. The low-key, half-hour ceremony is not a part of Pride Week festivities, none of which Ford attended last year.
Event organizers Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays first sent the mayor an invitation in March. PFLAG’s Toronto chapter said Tuesdaythat the mayor responded in late April, saying he couldn’t fit the event into his schedule but if that changes, he would let them know.
“Certainly, the mayor will be made most welcome should his schedule change,” president Irene Miller said. “We would be happy to have him stand with us and other councillors as that flag is raised.”
Councillor Gord Perks will read the city proclamation, which is signed by the mayor, in Ford’s stead. Perks has read the proclamation at the event the last two years. The ceremony will feature Toronto Maple Leafs president and general manager Brian Burke as a speaker.
The intimate event attracts a smaller crowd and much less fervour than the rainbow flag-raising event that that marks the start of Pride Week. Last year’s ceremony had a crowd of about 60 people.
“We really try and make it something people might be able to squeeze into a calendar,” Miller said. “It’s low-key.”
On Tuesday, when asked what he makes of his brother’s decision not to attend a flag-raising ceremony, Councillor Doug Ford said the mayor “hasn’t made that decision yet.” But Doug Ford was referring to the Pride Week flag-raising event in June, not the smaller PFLAG event on May 17.
The mayor was in town for last year’s Pride Week flag-raising ceremony, but sent ally Councillor Frances Nunziata, who was loudly booed when she read a proclamation that began, “I, Mayor Rob Ford . . .”
Last month, Ford said he will once again skip the Pride Parade this year, saying he will be at his family cottage on Canada Day weekend and can’t commit to any event in the 10-day festival.
It’s the same reason he gave for missing the parade last year, which had been attended by Toronto’s previous three mayors in past years.
Ford resisted encouragement from Burke, whose late son Brendan was gay, and former mayor Mel Lastman. The mayor faced intense public backlash and accusations of homophobia for skipping the annual festival.
Last month, Ford left the door open to attending other events in this year’s June 22 to July 1 festival, saying he would “take it event by event.”
On Sunday, the mayor and his brother remained silent on their radio show as Sun News Network host David Menzies discussed Rob Ford fielding questions about his weight and health during his mayoral campaign. Menzies called the questions about Ford’s weight an example of “personal brutality” against him and referenced then-candidate and gay father George Smitherman.
“Could you imagine … if I was at that all-candidates meeting and I went to George Smitherman and I said, ‘You know what George, being a practising homosexual, and being the fact that you’ve been involved with all kinds of illicit drug use, how do we know you won’t engage in high-risk sex and drug use that will bring about HIV leading to AIDS, and you’ll die in office? I would be run out of town on a rail!”
When asked if he regrets not stepping in, Doug Ford distanced himself from Menzies’s remarks on Monday.
“He made his comments. He's a guest. That's up to him to make those comments. I know Rob and I, we wouldn't have made those comments,” he said.
Pride Toronto issued a statement condemning the comments on Monday.
“After good-faith efforts to acquaint the Fords with our communities, Pride Toronto is disappointed that these homophobic comments were aired unchallenged. These comments demonstrate the continued need for Pride as a celebration of our communities and cultures, and a space for proud expression of who we are.”
The statement added: “Pride Toronto stands in solidarity with people living with HIV/AIDS against bigotry and intolerance directed at them, and calls upon our elected officials to do the same.”
Miller said she reminds the mayor in her correspondence that PFLAG’s door is always open.
“The scheduling didn’t work out, but next year my invitation will go out earlier and I will continue to ask.”
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Michael Woods
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