Gay Community Sit In To Rid Toronto Of Mayor Rob Ford

<p>Members of the LGBT community and its supporers in Toronto, Canada, have embarked on a peaceful sit in protest to rid Toronto of its Mayor, Rob Ford.</p> <p>by Newsdesk | 22nd Feb 2013</p><p></p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.thegayuk.com/communities/8/004/009/928/388/images/4606257534.png" width="461" height="322" alt="Rob Ford Must Go | Twitter" title="Rob Ford Must Go | Twitter"/></p> <p></p><p> • The group call themselves Ford Must Go</p><p> • They are staging a sit in at the Toronto town hall</p><p> • Protestors are speaking against Rob Ford’s ‘homophobia, bigotry and hatred’</p><p></p><p>Rob Ford is the current Mayor of Toronto, in Canada, and has got LGBT rights campaigners angry because of his ‘homophobia, bigotry and hatred’. </p><p></p><p>A group of protestors have now sat in the Toronto town hall continuously for 10 days - and it say it plans to do so until Rob Ford resigns. The peaceful, mainly silent campaign sees campaigners holding up signs and ‘exerting a moral force.’</p><p></p><p>Writing on the official website, organiser of the sit in Chris Caple says:</p><p></p><p>‘Up until now, Ford has been primarily hurting himself. Yes, he's greatly damaged the reputation of this city; yes, he's drawn the office of the mayor into disgrace. Yes, he should have resigned many months ago.</p><p></p><p>‘But now? - now, with his open repudiation of the Pride parade and his repeated attempts to have the ceremonial Pride flag taken down at City Hall, he's shifted into a new, even more dangerous mode - one of actively, deliberately seeking to hurt others. In order to score cheap political points with the basest elements of his base of supporters.</p><p></p><p>‘By his comments and behaviour, Ford is harming the LGBT community in Toronto specifically and the greater city generally, emboldening bigots, and making this city meaner, smaller, colder, and less welcoming.’</p><p></p><p>LOWERING THE PRIDE FLAG</p><p>Ford is accused of requesting that the rainbow flag be removed, which was to be flown in solidarity for Russia’s gay community during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, <a href="http://www.thegayuk.com/magazine/4574334751/tags/Russia">Russia</a>. He say of the request:</p><p>‘This is about Olympics,</p><p></p><p>‘This is about being patriotic to your country, this is not about someone's sexual preference.</p><p></p><p>'And there's no reason I can see that we should be putting up the Pride flag during the Olympics,'</p><p></p><p>NOT A HOMOPHOBE</p><p>However Rob Ford has defended himself, taking to his YouTube to say that he is offended when he is called Homophobic. </p><p></p><p>However campaigners are pointing to another of gaffs that point towards a less understanding Major. Speaking about Pride parades the Rob Ford said:</p><p>‘Ive never gone to a Pride parade, so I'm not going to change the way I am.’</p><p></p><p>You can follow the group’s actions on their official <a href="https://twitter.com/robfordmustgo">Twitter</a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-gay-uk/id616631043?mt=8&uo=4&at=11luiF">Read this and other stories on our free app</a></p><p></p><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-gay-uk/id770600575?mt=8&uo=4&at=11luiF">Download our latest edition of TheGayUK</a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> </p>