Mayor of Emo, Ontario, gets fined, ordered to complete LGBTQ sensitivity training after refusing to recognize Pride Month in 2020
Date
12/16/2024 6:04:06 AM
(MENAFN) The mayor of Emo, Ontario, has been fined and ordered to complete LGBTQ sensitivity training after refusing to recognize Pride Month in 2020. Mayor Harold McQuaker and the town council voted against a request by Borderland Pride, a local LGBTQ group, to officially proclaim June as Pride Month and display the Pride flag. The town had previously recognized Pride, but McQuaker argued that the decision should be postponed until a new proclamations policy was in place.
Despite the town's lack of a flagpole to display the Pride flag, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal ruled that McQuaker’s comment during the council meeting, where he mentioned that there was "no flag for the other side of the coin," demonstrated a lack of understanding of the importance of the Pride flag to the LGBTQ community. The tribunal found that this comment was discriminatory, suggesting that the mayor’s refusal was based on homophobic bias.
In addition to the $10,000 fine the township must pay, McQuaker has been personally fined $5,000 for the harm caused to the group’s self-respect. He was also ordered to complete human rights training, a directive he has refused, calling it "extortion." McQuaker has maintained that his actions were not driven by hate, but by procedural concerns over the town’s lack of a flagpole.
This case highlights how LGBTQ rights and special interest agendas are influencing local governance, with activists pushing for compliance and enforcing compliance through legal channels.
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