Anonymous letter sent to gay politician threatening attack on ‘faggot’ pride parade
A letter has been sent to an out politician in Canada threatening an attack on a Pride parade.
The letter was sent to Kristyn Wong-Tam, an openly gay politician who sits on Toronto City Council, as the city marked a day against homophobic bullying on Wednesday.
It references controversy over the city’s Pride parade, which has agreed to ban police from marching in uniform this year after a stand-off with Black Lives Matter activists.
The letter says: “I stand with millions of people to shut you faggotts [sic] down, now with the police not at your fag parade it makes it easy to hurt you all in a big way.
“You should your souls to them N***er Lives Matter now, no turning back.
“Fag parade all but done, no funding. Looks like your [sic] dead in the books, faggotts [sic].”
Ms Wong-Tam says it is the fourth such letter she has received in the past year.
A previous letter in similar handwriting said: “Can’t stand you LGBT types, don’t like you in city hall. Lady, if that, all you fag types are scum… wish you fags would just get your own planet.”
Ms Wong-Tam explained to City News that the letter had left staff in her office rattled when they opened it.
She said: “I think they were quite alarmed, and they were almost dislodged. I think they didn’t even want to show it to me, because they were trying to protect me.
“I am an elected official, I have security at City Hall, the mail I receive gets scanned, and I’m still able to receive this type of mail.
“I think it’s really important for us to recognise that when language that is used is hateful and discriminatory, it actually creates a climate of fear and violence. It can lead to violence, and I don’t want people to feel unsafe.
Ms Wong-Tam reported the incident to Toronto Police, who are now investigating.
The listed return address was that of Your Ward News, a digital newspaper run by the head of an unregistered neo-Nazi political party, James Sears, but Mr Sears denied any involvement and branded it a “hoax”.
