It wasn't surprising to me that homophobic attacks on Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman appeared over the weekend. I had expected them much earlier in the campaign. Slurs aired on a Tamil radio program led the news yesterday and this morning, with less attention paid to Muslim sponsored postering on Danforth Ave.
Mr. Smitherman was furious about a 35-second advertisement that aired on the Canadian Tamil Broadcasting Corporation (CTBC) during a program hosted by a local church called the Miracle Family Temple.
The apparently paid advertisement features two people discussing who to vote for in the Toronto election. “What kind of question is this?” one of the characters says. “I am Tamil. We have a religion and culture. Take Rob Ford: His wife is a woman.”
Mr. Smitherman is married to Christopher Peloso and has an adopted two-year-old son.
The candidate’s marriage was also the target of smear flyers affixed to some of his lawn signs on the Danforth and in the Beaches. The flyers featured photos of Mr. Smitherman and Mr. Peloso and read “Should Muslim vote for him who married a man?”
link: Toronto mayoral campaign ends on a hateful note - The Globe and Mail
And then I read this:
Catholic Insight, a politically-motivated religious publication, heartily endorsed Ford over Smitherman last week, calling Smitherman “ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil, that of homosexuality.”
While the publication tried to remain as polite in phrasing as possible, there was nothing civil about it. “While those attracted to same sex orientation have the right to be treated with dignity like all other persons,” their endorsement stated, “they should not be appointed or elected to leadership positions.”
Gosh, how respectful of them. We gays are perfectly entitled to human dignity, so long as we not take any initiative on any public matters and remain as isolated and invisible as possible.
link: Slap Upside The Head
Did anyone think organized religion is becoming more tolerant in Toronto?
