Out gay Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne accepts apology over ‘vicious’ personal attack by opposition member
The Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne has accepted the apology of a member who congratulated a constituent who misgendered her.
Wynne said she accepted the apology from Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt congratulated a follower on his Facebook page for calling her “Mr Wynne”.
But the out gay premier went on to question whether a male politician would be treated in the same way.
Fildebrandt had said he was “proud” of the commenter who wrote on Facebook thanking him for “telling the truth about Mr. Wynne or whatever the hell she identifies as.”
After being suspended from Wildrose, Fildebrandt denied any wrongdoing, claiming he had mis-read the comment.
He denied that he was attacking Wynne’s sexual orientation as his party apologised.
“Yes, I accept the apology,” Wynne said Saturday, adding: “But, you know, I think it was an interesting confluence of things. There’s a woman premier in Alberta, I’m there as a woman, we’re talking about climate change.
“And I think the attack, the viciousness of the attack, had a particular quality to it. So, I will just say we need to pay attention to that.”
Wynne said while there are “vicious women in politics”, she “suspects” that a female politician wouldn’t have attacked a man in the same way.
As the Ontario premier, Wynne was also the first female leader of the most populous Canadian province.
The Conservative Party in Canada this weekend voted to officially support same-sex marriage, eleven years after the country introduced it.
