Gay Conservative candidate resigns

The openly gay Conservative candidate in the riding of Toronto Centre has resigned after the controversial contents of his blog became public.

Chris Reid resigned from the race on Sep 20 after excerpts from his blog “Political Thoughts from a Gay Conservative” were posted online. The site at Conservativeandgay.blogspot.com has removed previous postings, but some can still be accessed through Google searches.

Writing about gay Canadians, Reid said, “What I found them to tolerate is promoting promiscuity, drug usage and prostitution.”

Reid also proposed that Canadian citizens be allowed to carry concealed handguns. This would be especially beneficial for gays, he wrote.

“Allow law-abiding citizens who are qualified and trained to carry concealed handguns for personal protection,” he stated. “It’s the only proven way to reduce violent crime and murder. If women and gays really wanted to stop being victims of hate crimes, they’d be in support of this but, judging from discussions, they’d rather be helpless and rely on government.”

Reid says he resigned because he thought his blog would be a distraction.

“I felt after the blog came out it would make it really difficult for me to get my message out about keeping Bob Rae accountable,” he says.

Reid says he also concluded that being a politician would involve muzzling himself and he might be happier elsewhere.

“I realized that it would be harder to express myself through the formal political process,” he says. “I’ve considered joining the military.”

Reid says he did feel pressure to resign from the party.

“It was a mutual decision,” he says. “We talked about various options. I felt I wouldn’t get 100 percent support from the higher-ups in the party.”

He says he’s disappointed in the party’s attempts to distance itself from him.

“I am,” he says. “I respect why they’re trying to do that but I think I could have explained myself within the campaign.”

A spokesperson for the Conservative Party, who would not give her name, would not comment on the blog.

“He’s decided to pursue another career and he realized that he could not commit to four years as an MP,” she says.

Reid says he stands by his blog postings.

“If you look past the way I worded things, I stand by the things I said,” he says. “I worded things to get a reaction. But it was the gay community and women’s groups and visible minorities in Washington, DC who fought to remove a handgun ban.

“I’m just trying to push an alternative view. I’m not trying to be popular. Publications like Xtra or Fab, sometimes I find it frustrating that it’s not more of a balanced view.”

Reid says he’s not sure if he’ll vote for new Conservative candidate David Gentili or maintain his party membership.

“I’m trying to decide where I’m going to put my vote,” he says. “I still have conservative views but as far as the party goes, I’m still deciding that.”

Reid says he hasn’t decided if he’ll ever reenter politics.

“It would have to be after we deal with the political correctness,” he says. “We all have our own individual minds and our political views shouldn’t have to be determined by our collective sexual identity.”