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rfmcdonaldThe reaction to Mayor Rob Ford's decision not to take part in the Pride Parade, saying that a family vacation in cottage country on the Canada Day long weekend takes priority, has gotten fairly loud criticism from across the Toronto print media and blogosphere (if not uniformly so). Past mayors say he should have attended, whether previous mayors like Barbara Hall, Mel Lastman, and David Miller who actually did, or previous mayors like Art Eggleton and June Rowlands who say that they would have if Pride back in the 1980s was less political and more party. One Toronto Star editorialist suggests that Ford's honeymoon is over. Predictably, the left-leaning NOW Toronto--a weekly that's been critical of Ford and recently featured a cover featuring his head photoshopped onto a more obese body--offered to go so far as to offer to pay for a charter flight to take him downtown. Even the right-leaning Toronto Sun was quietly disapproving (if not uniformly so). And why hasn't he been interested in going? It seems pretty certain--especially given past gaffes--that Ford well, has issues.
At least Ford seems consistent and doesn't appear to have taken part in Canada Day celebrations (right?).
Xtra!'s Emma Teitel had something interesting to say, allowing for the possibility that Ford might legitimately have issues with the over-the-top and somewhat promiscuous party nature of the parade, but also making a point that the debate itself is important: "The chair of Queer Ontario’s Political Action Committee, Casey Oraa, told the Star that Ford should “own up to his homophobia” and tell the world exactly how he feels about gays. Oraa and like-minded activists want the mayor to come out as a bigot. Shouldn’t they be proud that a powerful person is afraid to admit he’s homophobic? When gays can come out of the closet, and homophobes have to step inside it, isn’t that cause to celebrate?"
I'd say it's cause to celebrate. I also have to agree with MacLean's Andrew Potter when he says that--at the very least--this doesn't speak well of Ford as an elected official in a Canada that's not quite post-homophobic.
"|W]hy should Rob Ford attend Pride?" Potter concludes. "Because there are still people like Rob Ford around."
Me? I would go further and say it relates to citizenship, to membership in Toronto's political community. Pride began as a political protest, as a criticism of the political establishment for being positively hostile to queers and to GLBT rights. Pride was all about including a large segment of the population into the wider community.
Rob Ford is a populist mayor, we can agree. Why, then, is he neglecting such a large share of Toronto's population? Who belongs to Rob Ford's Toronto?
(And I'm off!)
After Ford nonchalantly refused to commit to any Pride activities beyond a proclamation signed behind closed doors, he was caught off-guard by the resulting uproar.
His team scrambled to a “family values” narrative — the super-busy mayor was heading north for a few days to spend Canada Day with his clan. “My family comes first,” Ford told reporters. Added his mother Diane: “He just wants to spend time with his family.”
Despite the fact that Pride spans 10 days — and that Ford has a history of brow-raising statements about gays — the public comments on talk radio, blogs and news websites this week suggest his strategy has worked, somewhat.
The truth is that Toronto’s mayor is uncomfortable with the idea of being at a gay gathering, a source close to Ford told the Star. The mayor spurned advice to make a gesture in order to relieve the pressure, said the source, who would not speculate on the cause of Ford’s discomfort.
At least Ford seems consistent and doesn't appear to have taken part in Canada Day celebrations (right?).
Xtra!'s Emma Teitel had something interesting to say, allowing for the possibility that Ford might legitimately have issues with the over-the-top and somewhat promiscuous party nature of the parade, but also making a point that the debate itself is important: "The chair of Queer Ontario’s Political Action Committee, Casey Oraa, told the Star that Ford should “own up to his homophobia” and tell the world exactly how he feels about gays. Oraa and like-minded activists want the mayor to come out as a bigot. Shouldn’t they be proud that a powerful person is afraid to admit he’s homophobic? When gays can come out of the closet, and homophobes have to step inside it, isn’t that cause to celebrate?"
I'd say it's cause to celebrate. I also have to agree with MacLean's Andrew Potter when he says that--at the very least--this doesn't speak well of Ford as an elected official in a Canada that's not quite post-homophobic.
Unlike citizens, who merely need to accept the commands of the law, political leaders need to be seen as endorsing its spirit, in the name of representing their entire constituency. Unfortunately, Canadian politicians don’t have a great record on this. When Pierre Trudeau decriminalized same-sex sexual activity in 1969, he didn’t say there was nothing wrong with gay sex. He said, famously, that the state has no business in the nation’s bedrooms. When same-sex marriage became law in 2005, it was largely a judicial, not legislative, victory that was forced upon Paul Martin by the Supreme Court. And while he was more than willing to concede the Charter’s supremacy on the issue, the deeply Catholic Martin was never able to come right out and say that he thought it was right and proper that gays should be allowed to marry.
[. . .]
Toronto’s Pride parade is the third-largest in the world. Out of the top 10—including New York, London, San Francisco, Sydney, and Amsterdam—Toronto’s will be the only one where the host city’s mayor won’t be marching. If Rob Ford were gay-neutral, he would surely suck it up, drive back from the cottage a day early, and go to the parade. But when asked directly last week if he was homophobic, the Toronto Star reported that Ford simply “looked away and mumbled something unintelligible under his breath.”
"|W]hy should Rob Ford attend Pride?" Potter concludes. "Because there are still people like Rob Ford around."
Me? I would go further and say it relates to citizenship, to membership in Toronto's political community. Pride began as a political protest, as a criticism of the political establishment for being positively hostile to queers and to GLBT rights. Pride was all about including a large segment of the population into the wider community.
Rob Ford is a populist mayor, we can agree. Why, then, is he neglecting such a large share of Toronto's population? Who belongs to Rob Ford's Toronto?
(And I'm off!)
