Toronto school trustee called ‘homophobic’ for questioning nudity at ‘family friendly’ Pride parade
TORONTO, February 17, 2014 – Homosexual activists have slammed him as a ‘homophobic a**hole’ and an ‘outrageous bigot,’ but Toronto District School Board trustee Sam Sotiropoulos says that he’s just concerned about children viewing illegal public nudity at the city’s annual Pride parade.
Sotiropoulos created a firestorm on Twitter last week after he tweeted the Toronto Police force asking if it would enforce Canadian law against public nudity.
“As #TDSB participation raises questions of age-appropriateness, do you enforce Canada's public nudity laws at Pride?” he asked.
Sotiropoulos, who says he has nothing against “LGBTQ” people and says he would attend the Pride parade if invited, was immediately accused on twitter of insulting and hating gays and was labeled “homophobic.”
“Interesting to remark how readily those who don't want to be labelled cast labels and slander at others,” Sotiropoulosresponded. “To think, these are the folks who are ‘inclusive’?! I'd say, ‘Shame on you,’ but there's no suggestion they'd understand what it is.”
Under Canada’s Criminal Code it is illegal to be nude in a “public place.” Section 174 states that a person who is “so clad as to offend against public decency or order” is “guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.”
Sotiropoulos says that city officials have a double standard when it comes to nudity at the Pride parade.
“If you were to parade naked in any of the number of parades — I don’t know how many throughout any part of the city that go on during the course of the year — I’m sure that you’d be post-haste dealt with by the police,” he said on the Tarek Fatah Radio Show Sunday morning.
Sotiropoulos said as a TDSB trustee, he has no problem with the board promoting the Pride parade. He agrees with the “very nature of the parade,” saying that the TDSB having a float in the parade is “part of our social justice piece.”
“We produce posters, send them out to schools, we send out flyers as well promoting the event as ‘family friendly,’” he said.
His main concern is that people parading naked in the Pride event “raises the question of age appropriateness.”
“Where’s the disclaimer?” he asked.
Sotiropoulos also does not like that students at the parade see Canadian law openly “flouted.”
Photos of the 2012 Toronto Pride parade (Warning: explicit) show completely nude men and women walking down the street.
Students are “seeing the breaking of the laws of Canada,” he said.
Sotiropoulos said that he does not understand “how being naked [in public] is part of being gay. I get stuck on that question. Why is that a necessary element to parade naked in the streets of Toronto to express what? I’m not sure, except for the flouting of the laws of this country.”
Jack Fonseca of Campaign Life Coalition told LifeSiteNews.com that public nudity, sadomasochism, and mock sex acts in the annual Pride parade are all part of the “edge-pushing” inherent to homosexual activism. Public nudity at the Pride parade just scratches the surface of what is normative for many within the gay lifestyle, he said.
“Within that lifestyle, especially as far as the men are concerned, one finds mind-blowing rates of promiscuity, multiple partners and anonymous sex, in comparison with heterosexual relationships,” he said.
Homosexual activist Patti Ettelbrick, former legal director for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, once said that “being queer” is “more than setting up house, sleeping with a person of the same gender, and seeking state approval for doing so. … Being queer means pushing the parameters of sex and sexuality, and in the process transforming the very fabric of society.”
Realizing that he had unwittingly stirred up a hornet’s nest with his original tweet, Sotiropoulos turned to Twitter to defend himself against his outspoken accusers.
“One of the most divisive influences in Canada today is homosexism it’s disseminators are maliciously rabid,” he tweeted on Thursday, adding moments later: “We must fight ALL forms of discrimination if we're to be truly inclusive, that includes #homosexism as well.”
Toronto city councilor Shelley Carroll, a known supporter of the homosexual movement, tweeted back: “Dumbest Yet.”
Sotiropoulos was not impressed: “How dare she? How dare she? She just involved herself in my Tweet stream … and insults me out of the blue,” he told the National Post. He demanded an apology.
City councillor Gord Perks defended the nudity at Pride in a tweet, saying that the permit issued by the city allows for “expressions of sexuality.”
“I just want you to produce the ‘permit’ you claimed licenses folk to parade naked in public at Pride?” Sotiropoulos tweeted back.
Despite a flood of criticism, the trustee has received some support for his stance.
“Thank you for supporting families Sam. It's about time someone speaks up for the ordinary family!” tweeted Sébastien Bertrand.
Sotiropoulos has also seen humor in the situation, tweeting yesterday: “Brrr It's cold outside today. I bet there wouldn't be anyone parading naked in this weather! #TDSB floats or not.”
Toronto city officials are not the only ones to turn a blind eye to nudity in the Pride parade. Last year both Vancouver police and city officials announced they had no issues with public nudity at the city’s annual gay Pride parade, expressing no interest in upholding the law in this regard.
Sotiropoulos said his next step will be to put a motion to the board questioning the TDSB’s participation in the Pride parade if city officials will not uphold the country’s laws.
Contact info:
Sam Sotiropoulos, TDSB Trustee, Ward 20 Scarborough-Agincourt
Ph: 416-397-3066
sam.sotiropoulos@tdsb.on.ca
Ph: 416-397-3066
sam.sotiropoulos@tdsb.on.ca
Toronto District School Board
5050 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario M2N 5N8
TTC: North York Centre Station
Ph: 416-397-3000
Email: GeneralInquiries@TDSB.on.ca
5050 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario M2N 5N8
TTC: North York Centre Station
Ph: 416-397-3000
Email: GeneralInquiries@TDSB.on.ca
Toronto Police Service
40 College Street
Toronto, ON M5G 2J3
Ph: (416) 808-2222
Send email using this online form.
40 College Street
Toronto, ON M5G 2J3
Ph: (416) 808-2222
Send email using this online form.
Rob Ford, Mayor of Toronto
Office of the Mayor
Toronto City Hall, 2nd Floor
100 Queen St. West
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
Ph: (416) 397-3673
mayor_ford@toronto.ca
Office of the Mayor
Toronto City Hall, 2nd Floor
100 Queen St. West
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
Ph: (416) 397-3673
mayor_ford@toronto.ca
