Rob Ford won’t attend Toronto’s international World Pride event, just because

Rob Ford won’t attend Toronto’s international World Pride event, just because

(Image: Ford: Christopher Drost; Flag: Les Chatfield)

In past years, Rob Ford has used his family’s annual Canada Day trip to Muskoka as an excuse for skipping the Pride Parade, but on Wednesday night, at the first mayoral debate of the 2014 election, he offered a different rationale. “I am not going to go to Pride,” he said. “I’ve never been to a Pride parade. So I’m not going to change the way I am.” This is especially noteworthy because this year Toronto will be hosting World Pride, an international Pride celebration.

As a point of reference, this is what it looked like the last (and only) time Ford attended a Pride event. Maybe he’s just a shy guy who frequently gets over his shyness long enough to do socially challenging things like dance in crowded nightclubs and run for political office. Given his past comments on LGBT issues, though, it seems more likely that he sees homosexual relationships as weird and embarrassing.

But he’s not going to change to the way he is—so he has that much in common with gay voters, at least. Rob Ford, this one’s for you:

 

UPDATE: And now Pride Toronto says Ford wasn’t necessarily invited, anyway.