Archive

Alleged homophobic remarks land Amaranth Mayor Bob Currie in hot water

June 25, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Paula Brown

A petition has been launched calling for the resignation of Amaranth Mayor Bob Currie following comments he made during a recent council meeting against raising the Pride Flag.  

“What I said was the truth,” Mayor Currie said in an interview with the Citizen. 

In a township council meeting last Wednesday (June 17) Amaranth councillors discussed a letter from Stacey Whittington regarding the Township not flying the pride flag this year, in support of the LGBTQ+ community and Pride Month. 

“If everybody was either lesbian or homosexual this would be the last generation on earth, because two homosexuals cannot produce offspring, two lesbians cannot produce offspring, so why would I want to support something when this would be the last generation on earth – I’m not going to go there,” the mayor said during the council meeting. 

When asked by the Citizen about the comment, Mayor Currie again stated that he had merely spoken the truth, adding, “I have never in my life apologized for telling the truth. If I’ve offended somebody, well obviously they don’t like the truth.” 

A petition calling for the resignation of the mayor was started anonymously and is directed to Guy Giorno, the township’s Integrity Commissioner. The petition had, as of press time, over 1,600 signatures. 

During the council meeting Mayor Currie admitted to not knowing what other municipalities in the region were doing, but said that were many proclamations through the year that don’t  require having flags flown at town hall.  

“The black community in our county, they had something this last month,” he said. “There was no flag.” 

Amaranth Deputy Mayor Chris Gerrits added that Ms. Whittington could request a proclamation next year, to be discussed and voted on by the council. 

While the petition calls for his removal, Mayor Currie said he was voted into office and that is where he plans to stay for the next two and a half years. 

And on whether he regrets the statement?

“If it’s a true statement why should you regret what you said?”

Readers Comments (0)