City Councillor wants to end Toronto funding for Gay Pride Parade

Toronto - City Councillor and former Toronto mayoral candidate, Giorgio Mammoliti, was spotted during the Dyke March Saturday recording particular groups in the parade. Now he is calling for the end of municipal funding for the Gay Pride Parade.

In March, Ward 7 York West Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti introduced the idea of establishing a red-light district on the Toronto Island. He believes the adult entertainment district that consists of brothels, strip clubs and prostitutes would generate millions of dollars in tourism. Over the weekend of the Pride festivities, Mammoliti called for the end of municipal funding for North America’s largest gay rights parade. The former mayoral candidate, also a strong ally of Mayor Rob Ford, was caught recording Saturday’s Dyke March. When he was recording the parade, he captured an anti-Israeli group chanting “Israeli Apartheid.” This group was warned by the city and pride organizers not to do this. Mammoliti even demanded a letter from the organizers to ban the Queers Against Israeli Apartheid group. Queers Against Israeli Apartheid withdrew from the big parade Sunday. Mammoliti later told the Toronto Star: “I see this as cockiness, I see this as a slap in the face to City Hall and I see this as a slap in the face to taxpayers in this city. This councillor does not want them to get funded this year. I will be seeing whether the mayor agrees with me.” Pride Toronto receives nearly $150,000 from the municipal government, and organizers say if they do not receive this funding then they could go bankrupt. They also could lose their license to hold the World Pride festival in 2014. Ward 33 Don Valley East City Councillor Shelley Carroll tweeted a photo of Mammoliti recording the march Saturday. “There’s the video camera. Pretty sure you paid for it taxpayers. Respect for taxpayers,” wrote Carroll. As of yet, there have been no reports if Mammoliti has spoken with the mayor. Adrienne Batra, the mayor’s spokesperson, said Ford is not speaking with the media at this time. Ford has captured front-page headline news in local media outlets for not attending any of the Pride festivities last week. Ford spent the holiday weekend in Muskoka with his family. Question: is a red-light district different from Pride festivities?