John Baird is really gay

September 18, 2010 Written by Ian Capstick

An Ontario cabinet minister has outed one of his federal counterparts as a gay man and the Ottawa Citizen twisted itself in knots not to mention it – all while managing to give the story prominent placement. Right off the top, this will make a whole lot more sense if you know that John Baird is a homosexual. I know. A total shock, right? Last night Ontario Research and Innovation Minister, Glen Murray, tweeted:

“Funny Baird attacking Toronto elites. Who are they ? I imagine given the # of cosmos I have had with Rusty @ Byzantium he qualifies.”

Here is how the Citizen chose to interpret that statement this morning on A3:

“To translate: Rusty is Baird’s nickname, and Byzantium is a Toronto bar and restaurant famous for its food, cocktails, but mostly for its glittering setting for the city’s glamourati; in other words, it’s a hot spot for Toronto’s elite.”

A slight contrast to how Byzantium actually describes itself. As a quick visit to their website reveals, the establishment proudly proclaims their status as “the grand matriarch of the gay village” and points to a quote suggesting it’s “the Chic-est Gay Drenched Dining Room” in Toronto. It’s a hot spot for gays because it’s a restaurant that is famous for being gay. Had Murray only wanted to point out a few elite places that both he and Baird can be seen, he could have just said the Albany Club and likely mentioned that “Rusty” drinks white wine – not the tres gay cosmos he tweeted about. No, Murray tweeted carefully and deliberately. The Ottawa Citizen kind of knew this, didn’t they? They played coy this morning. The reporter made a point of mentioning Murray’s sexual orientation, but she neglects to mention the Byzantium’s prominent location in the heart of Canada’s largest gay village? Some will no doubt suggest that Murray’s tweet only implies Baird has some rich, gay Toronto friends that he sometimes hangs out with at Byzantium. They can live in that dream world, but this is reality. When combined with last year’s accidental outing of Baird by a Conservative candidate on CBC Toronto and Baird’s appearances at decidedly less upscale Ottawa gay bars, it boggles the mind how the Ottawa Citizen could report this story the way it did. Editorial agenda? Or a reporter who forgot to Google the restaurant? The Ottawa Citizen no doubt also has photos of the attractive young man who sat quietly watching this year’s Pride parade in Ottawa wearing a massive sandwich board emblazoned with the message “John Baird hit on me.” Stereotypical euphemisms like “glitter” and “glamourati” aside; the Byz – as us gays call it – is really just a nice restaurant where a bunch of men can feel comfortable touching one another while talking. You know, being able to act like straight couples do in romantic restaurants everywhere else? John Baird is gay. But that’s not what makes him “elite.” A lot of LGBT Canadians live in poverty. What makes him an elite is, as Rick Mercer put it on CBC: “He has a chauffeur.” To translate (for the Citizen): What Canada’s first openly gay mayor is saying, is “Hey look, I know this guy and here is some more evidence that he is a complete hypocrite.”

61 Comments

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DL

I wonder whether Baird has some sort of shrine in his home of the pantheon of gay rightwingers who he undoubtedly worships – like J. Edgar Hoover or Roy Cohn or Cardinal Spellman or his soulmate Ken Mehlman!!
GGower

Who cares if he is gay? I define elite not as someone who has money, or is polished, but someone who looks down on, and misunderstands those who don’t. Being rich, or gay, or educated is not the same as being elite. Being a snobby boor, who thinks they are the center of everything is what makes one elitist, in my opinion.
http://none Steve

Does it really matter if Baird is gay? His homosexuality only seems to be a problem within the gay community. The question I have is would it be a problem if he was a Liberal or New Democrat? Probably not.
Pingback: Ian Capstick outs John Baird « BC Blue: One BC Conservative's view on it all…
http://kirbycairo.blogspot.com/ Kirbycairo

Thanks for this posting Ian. The funny thing is that it has been obvious for years that Baird is gay and has been giving a bad name to such a sexual preference for ages. I wouldn’t have minded so much if he was not so vocally opposed to gay marriage.
JDot

You sir, are a scumbag…
Susie

So what–Glen Murray has not done himself any favours. It shows his true character.
JVXRD

I agree; you are an asshole.
rabbit

I have no idea (nor do I much care) if Baird is gay.

But let’s suppose he is, just for argument’s sake. How would that make him a hypocrite?
http://kirbycairo.blogspot.com/ Kirbycairo

Wow, JDot, that’s telling him! I bet he was just hoping that you wouldn’t come up with such a sophisticated argument.
DBlackb

Baird’s sexual orientation has nothing to do with anything – and if it’s a “total shock” to anyone that’s he’s gay, then that person has been living under a rock for the past few years.
That Baird is a hypocrite (and make no mistake, he is, along with many of his presumable heterosexual Conservative colleagues)is a simple fact and neither the Ottawa Citizen nor anyone else need report on his sexuality as part of this story.
SJ

You sir…. are correct! Somehow scumbag doesn’t really fit in this comment box. Sounds like actual reporting of facts, and not sugar coating the real issues at hand.
I say, well done sir!
Harry98

What a bunch of crap. I hope Baird sues bigtime.
Jim

Baird may be gay, but you are a douche.
DK

excellent commentary
TDot

@ JDot! you are a douchebag! Great post.
PollyWolly

FINALLY someone says it in print! So many of us have known forever, & he’s seen at gay bars in whichever city he’s in. But our oh-so-polite MSM just tiptoes around it! And I have never understood why? They savaged Helena Guergis with no compunction? But Baird & his “Gay Lifestyle”, they won’t touch with a ten foot pole?! It seems to me it’s in the interests of Canadians to know who their MP & Minister of the Government is, since it is hardly a minor matter. I especially think the gay-phobic conservative voters have the right to know who they are voting for.! Bravo you, Ian!!
dch

somebody should teach you a lesson….you really are a scumbag.
Charles

Being an elite isn’t having a chauffeur, or frequenting upscale gay establishments, it’s thinking you should have more say in society because you have a chauffeur and go to gay bars.
Toronto,Montreal, and Vancouver Liberals believe they should direct the affairs of the nation without any regard for the people who live in the suburbs and beyond.
Ryan

He`s never voted against gay marriage, and he voted against re-opening the debate back in 2006. So his sexual orientation is of no concern to me. Jason Kenney on the other hand is a hypocrite.
Irritable Canadian

Who cares if he is or isn’t — what impact does that make on his ability to govern. Ian, I think you’re doing more damage to your credibility by writing crap like this and then hoping that the CPC and others will still retain your consulting services. Did Jack tell you to write this post?
bmaggiemay

Hey…when it’s the truth…it’s the truth
Juliet O’Neill

Ian. I suggest you get back on the high road.
Looking to vote

Ahhh gee….must really sting to see Baird so popular.

It took a teeny, tiny little man to try to make this seem a negative.

By the way, John Baird has a chauffeur because he has earned the title of Minister.

Is this the tone that comes from being seated too often in a booster chair at some cbc table?

Yay, John Baird. May this be a bright shining year and session for you!
Ian Capstick

Thanks all for the comments. Glad to know ‘yall read past the headline.

I’ll note that I’m used to being called a scumbag and worse. But, the least you anonymous commenters could do is sign your real name.

What I was trying to do with this article was shake up the discourse around Baird a little – official Ottawa “knows” a lot that it refuses to report – and if John is going to take off the gloves and hit so-called elitists from Toronto – he had better know that he is one, he hangs out with them and his sexuality is all part of it. As Andrew Coyne said, “the fabulous gloves are off.”

Ian .
dd

….and your point is??? What does being gay and being an elitist have to do with each other.
bettie

This is pretty low. Very inappropriate to report on anyone’s sexuality. I guess it gives the writer a feeling of power or something.
looking to vote

Ahh, PollyWolly, this is delicious!

Conservatives are the very people who like John Baird. That he is said to be gay won’t affect the way they vote. It just will not.

This is a great example of a non-conservative thinking he had a gotcha moment.

This is even a better example of how the left chooses to attack a political person who happens to be gay….how they use that!

I would be a tad concerned for how that looks on you all….not conservatives.
DL

“The question I have is would it be a problem if he was a Liberal or New Democrat? Probably not.”

The question wouldn’t exist in the first place if Baird was a Liberal or a New Democrat. In either of those parties the political culture would encourage him to “come out” and would be much more gay-positive. He wouldn’t face all the embarrassing questions he would face if he came out as a Tory like “As a gay man, how do you feel about 95% of your party being against gay marriage and your government cutting funding to gay pride events?”

At a Tory a convention, you can be sure that an openly gay John Baird would be about as welcome as a turd floating in a punch bowl.
BC

One of the cardinal gay rules is that you allow a fellow gay person to out himself as he deems appropriate and in the fashion that he/she deems appropriate under ANY circumstance. To do otherwise as Murray has apparently done is nothing less than gay intimidation. If Baird is a strong gay conservative, that would only be a positive for him. If the “fabulous gloves are off”, don’t for a second believe that they would mostly be against Mr. Baird, particularly in the context of this posting. Absolutely shameful gay behavior by Murray.
Ian Capstick

I might suggest the Citizen reporter in question report facts and then pundits like me won’t have to correct them. As for the high road, I’ll admit it gets boring being up on my high horse all the time – every now and then I’m going to throw a Baird-like punch. As evidenced by the real spit in opinion on my column…it seems to have works.
mtlgay

Hey Capstick
I used to listen to you on CJAD when you represented the NDP. Usually you were well informed but I think one day when Canadas environment is beyond repair you will regret the Dion comments.
As for Baird, he is a hyprocite. As a sister, you know as well as I, the hate for fags within the Conserv caucus. How this man lives with himself is beyond me.
Rusty, when you sell your soul to the devil, you become one.
God bless.
Chris

Fascinating. Baird is certainly not a nice person, nor would I ever vote for him. I don’t think it’s his sexual orientation that makes him a hypocrite though – as someone else said, he’s never (to my knowledge) cast an anti-gay vote, and he is on record as voting to oppose re-opening the marriage issue in 2006 when these bastards came into power. If he were persecuting homos while furtively sucking cock, I’d gleefully out him – however, given the facts, I don’t think a public outing is deserved or relevant. I understand he shows up at gay bars, has attended the Public Service Pride events, and clearly has had more than a few drinkypoos at Byzantium. Good for him – even douchebags deserve a little fun. I don’t get the sense from any of this that he’s trying to hide anything, and it’s certainly his business whether and when he makes any public declaration. What does make him a hypocrite is declarations like this Toronto elite idiocy – as others have pointed out, he’s certainly a member of the Ottawa elite himself.
Brian Finch

This has been known in my circles, and I’ve even seen him in these situations at various prominently gay events. Baird is hypocrite for not having the guts to be open, and support the funding cuts to AID Service Organization programming, taking money out of the Federal Initiative for AIDS which was to ramp up to 84 million dollars and instead put it to the failed vaccine initiave, by the way was stipulated this funding would be new and not pulled from any other HIV funding. Let’s not forget the sudden lack of funding for Pride which brings in millions of dollars, and the party stand on marriage.

He’s a discrace. He has not been outed, as he been out for a long time in certain circles, it’s just the blithering media was not connecting dots.

Murray did not break any “gay rule” as Baird has made it plenty clear on his own, plus lots of people tweet about it, the media just decided to listen to Glen Murray. And when a member of parliament who has power over our governing is supporting harmful policies to my community, then I think it’s important information. The only shame going on here is Baird.

You can’t out those who are already out. Too bad the rest of you were too asleep at the wheel to even notice.
slgam

Has anyone lost track of the fact this whole story started over the issue of killing the long gun registry? What does being gay (or not) have to do with it?? Those of us whose life does not revolve around the social scene are far more interested in the legislation than the characters.

The “attack” came from a Dalton McGuinty Liberal, Glen Murray, and in typical Dalton McGuinty Liberal fashion, he is seeking to discredit the messenger rather than discuss the issue itself. Strip away the police chiefs’ misguided campaign for keeping the registry, and there’s not much there to defend.

Those of us from outside of Toronto understand clearly what “Toronto elite” means, and the fact that those from within Toronto don’t get that serves only to emphasize just how big is the divide between Toronto and the rest of Canada.

John Baird is a very astute politician and a good MP, and he gets it. I get it. A lot of people get it. This is about killing a wasteful, unneeded, and intrusive piece of legislation – not about who hangs out where, or what they drink. Who cares? Blurring the message, and smearing the messenger, as Glen Murry has apparently tried to do, is not helpful. He, of all people, should know better.
DL

“One of the cardinal gay rules is that you allow a fellow gay person to out himself as he deems appropriate and in the fashion that he/she deems appropriate under ANY circumstance.”

Speak for yourself. I’m gay and I was not aware of this “cardinal gay rule”. I think that despicable gay closet cases who are enemies of their own people like Ken Mehlman or J. Edgar Hoover or Roy Cohn or Ernst Roehm (remember him?) should be exposed for their evil duplicity and made to pay the consequences.
John D

Thank you for pointing out that being gay does not automatically make someone a part of the elite class. There are many gay men who are living in poverty and can’t afford to live up to the cosmo-sipping stereotype.
Looking to vote

DL, so you are saying that hitting Baird at the personal level fits your agenda, as well as Ian’s.

What is this “duplicity” talk you are so hepped up about that a public person needs to tell all?

But, you may be on to something.

Surely this opens the doors for the public to be told the real truth of the interpersonal relationships between the Ottawa/Toronto media and political types.

Transparency is a bear sometimes. Just sayin’.
Chris

” John Baird is gay. But that’s not what makes him “elite.” A lot of LGBT Canadians live in poverty. What makes him an elite is, as Rick Mercer put it on CBC: “He has a chauffeur.” ”

This sums up nicely exactly why Baird’s being gay has nothing to do with this story, and why Murray should not have conflated the two.

So Baird doesn’t want to make his sexuality a political issue, big deal. The caucus doesn’t care, the PM doesn’t care, and the Ottawa West Nepean Conservative members, many of whom are well aware, don’t care either. Kudos to the Press Gallery for not making an issue of something that isn’t a story.

@ kirbycairo – Baird has never been a hypocrite on same-sex marriage, has never been remotely let alone vocally opposed to it, and his voting records at the provincial and federal levels reflect that.
Anon

Frankly, I disagree entirely that the MSM should report this stuff. All it is is glorified celebrity gossip, and the public has no “right to know” who cabinet ministers prefer to shack up with unless it actually affects their ability to do their jobs. I like the media having discretion in this regard, and I view it as a strength of our political culture that it took a decade to publicly out someone as prominent as Baird who really isn’t subtle about it.
DL

“Baird has never been a hypocrite on same-sex marriage, has never been remotely let alone vocally opposed to it, and his voting records at the provincial and federal levels reflect that.”

I wouldn’t be that kind to him. Baird was first elected in 1995 as a Tory under Mike Harris – that was an election where Harris’s whole campaign revolved around attacking the NDP for trying to give same sex couples equal rights. Baird said NOTHING and went along with the bigoted campaign his leader was waging. When you say nothing in the face of evil, you are complicit. Its true that Baird voted against reopening the debate on same sex marriage. But that’s not good enough. Where was he when the pro-SSM movement could have used him to lobby MPs in the Tory party or to address a public rally. Instead he’s a silent Susie. If i ever saw him at Byzantium I’d pour a Bloody Mary over his head and tell him he had a lot of nerve to show his face in a gay establishment after being complicit in so many policies that have damaged his own community.
MikeH

Fascinating the responses. Like poking a hornet’s nest! Of course it shouldn’t make any difference that Baird is (NOT might be) gay. The fact that so many of you seem to think that saying this is somehow insulting or smearing Baird speaks volumes about your attitude on the subject. More importantly, that fact that Baird — unlike Murray, Smitherman, Bryson etc. – feels the need to treat it like a dirty secret says a great deal about his personal integrity AND attitudes towards gays within the Conservative caucus.
MikeH

Oh, and one more thing — saying that Baird is gay says NOTHING about his sex life, or who he shacks up with. All it says is that his primary affective/sexual preference is for the same sex. It should be as ordinary and acceptable as saying that someone is straight, married, Roman Catholic, or francophone. Those reacting to this revelation negatively are the truly prurient ones — leaping immediately to sexual activity.
Wjr

As long as he supports this homophobic right wing Harper government, then his orientation is germane.
WriterGirl

Baird trolls the gay community for dates and votes. But he was the government spokesperson when the Conservatives cut the Court Challenges program — the same program that funded all of the constitutional court cases that granted Charter rights to gays and lesbians. He plays it both ways — glad-handing in the gay village, and then whipping up reactionary right-wing sentiment in his riding and in the House of Commons. His comment about the Toronto elites is just a little too rich not to lash back at. I think Ian is brave for writing this post.
Douglas Connors

What all the people posting here commenting about whether it is OK to “out” (seriously how “in the closet” was he when there a pictures of him in newspapers at Gay Pride in Ottawa last year mere weeks after Harper turfed Ablonczy for allowing Toronto Pride to have taxpayer dollars?) John Baird as gay is that the REASON for it is not cast aspersions on him a person because he is gay…

…Most of you are right that it is a non-issue for being elected and has no bearing on his ability to be an MP…

…but rather because it is further proof of his hypocrisy.

Baird chastises Toronto elites when
1. Baird himself in an elite. ANYONE in the political class is an elite
2. Baird himself was a part-time Toronto elite when he was Cabinet Minister at Queen’s Park
3. Baird is being whipped by his own Boss to NOT represent the views of his constituents in his O So Rural riding of Ottawa West-Nepean
4. Baird has a chauffeur, wears tuxes to accompany the PMs wife to “rich gala” events, and bemoans the lack of organic food on the PMs plane
5. Baird is a member of a political party that has waged an outright war on gays since it’s inception, and has pumped up the volume on that was since taking office
– The PM did not show up to welcome the world to the Out Games, the largest amateur sport event (in # of participants) in the world
– The PM did not show up to welcome the world to the 2006 Toronto International AIDS Conference, only the largest scientific conference in the world (and one of the reasons Bush/Obama removed the travel entry ban into the US for HIV+ people because the International AIDS Society refused to hold the conference in the USA since the early 1990s until the ban was removed… Harper did not lift a little finger to fight for the international mobility rights of Canadians living with HIV/AIDS)
– The PM campaigned on taking away same-sex marriage to win… and John Baird helped him to do it. I don’t care if he personally voted against it. He helped those who would oppress gays to gain power and gain an opportunity to do so. He did not have the courage of his convictions to cross the floor as did Scott or Belinda (who is not gay but supports gay rights)
– The PM held a vote on whether the House should hold a vote to take away gay marriage (thus betraying the promise he made to his base for a direct vote on the issue, showing the PM is a hypocrite, NOT ONLY not only toward the 62% of the population of which he is PROUDLY NOT the PM, but ALSO to those who truly have a beef with same-sex marriage who trusted him to hold a real vote on the issue)… yet he still takes their money.
Douglas Connors

…(continued))

- John Baird did NOT actually vote against taking away same-sex marriage. He voted against opening up the question of having a vote to take away same-sex marriage. NOT THE SAME THING. None of us know how John Baird would have actually voted on a Bill to repeal same-sex marriage. His Boss never created the opportunity
- His Boss turfed Ablonczy for giving money to Toronto Pride
- His Boss canceled funds at the last minute last year for Divers-Cité in MTL
- His Boss is funding the RCMP to come up with bogus research to prove Insite in Vancouver, despite all proof to the contrary that it plays a role in stemming the spread of AIDS, is bad in order to shut it down
- His Boss has diverted money from care, treatment and support programs for people already living with HIV and AIDS (in great numbers people who are gay) to prevention efforts
- His Boss is trying to decrease access to medical marijuana (which in part helps patients with AIDS)
- His Boss has not funded one single Pride event anywhere in the country this year…

Yes, John Baird’s homosexuality is NOT an issue because he is a homosexual. It is an issue because it is YET ONE MORE, damning indictment of his inherent hypocrisy.

Now that “gay” John Baird has got his “elite” rewards… he puts the screws to others just like himself…

Hypocrite in your personal life = Hypocrite in public life

Baird is no better than Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, Tom Foley, and all those other closet cases who tried to deny their own kind.

Plain and simple.

THAT’s why this issue, the privacy of which has been respected quite well to date, is important now.
Douglas Connors

Oops!

My first paragraph should have read as follows:

What all the people posting here commenting about whether it is OK to “out” John Baird as gay (seriously how “in the closet” was he when there a pictures of him in newspapers at Gay Pride in Ottawa last year mere weeks after Harper turfed Ablonczy for allowing Toronto Pride to have taxpayer dollars?) don’t realize is that the REASON for it is not to cast aspersions on him a person because he is gay…
http://www.jennfarr.com Jenn Farr

I had my photo taken with massive-sandwich-board-boy!!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennfarr/5010473536/
Anon

DL, saying that the 1995 campaign revolved around gay rights is complete revisionist history. The 1995 campaign revolved around a gargantuan deficit, Rae screwing the public-sector unions, and some red-meat conservatism like welfare reform and being tough on crime. Bashing Rae for gay couples getting benefits may have been mentioned, but if it was it was small fry in the campaign.

Also, while I can’t speak for Baird particularly, I know quite a lot of gay Conservatives(don’t scoff, the percentage is freakishly high, like multiple times the percentage in the general population), and as a rule they are not quiet about promoting the concept of same-sex rights inside the party. I’d imagine Baird was doing the same, because it’s not as if his orientation was ever a secret among people in the know. Just because he wasn’t doing it in public doesn’t mean he was silent, he probably just wanted to avoid getting typecast like Scott Brison was.
http://www.jennfarr.com Jenn Farr

“he probably just wanted to avoid getting typecast like Scott Brison was”

Quite possible. But if everyone would just be honest about themselves nobody would get “typecast” anymore! We’d be treated to so much variety we’d face the fact that /everyone/ has a “special interest”. This whole othering of folks who fall outside the narrow confines of “normal/average” is just soooooo over.

Why be ordinary when you can be FAH-BEW-LUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUS!?
MikeH

@Anon — 1. How on EARTH would you know that the percentage of gay conservatives is “freakishly” higher than in the general populations? You’d need a revised long-form census to figure that out, eh? and 2. Bryson showed courage and integrity in being open about his orientation. Far from “stereotyping” him, he managed to get reelected and become an effective Minister in the Liberal Cabinet. All Baird has achieved by not having the same integrity is to confirm to everyone who knows he’s gay that he considers it a dirty little secret.
anon

As a late-to-the-game follow-up to Brian Finch’s comment, “He’s a discrace [sic]. He has not been outed, as he been out for a long time in certain circles, it’s just the blithering media was not connecting dots.” Baird was outed in public circles, in some sense, back in February on CBC Radio:

“In a live interview that aired Feb 2 on Metro Morning, a Toronto CBC-radio program, Pamela Taylor was put on the hot seat, asked to name any openly gay Conservative MPs or Ontario MPPs. The trick is, none are openly gay. She named John Baird, a Conservative cabinet minister who has always refused to discuss his sexuality in the media.”
http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/OPEN_SECRET_Conservative_cabinet_minister_John_Baird_outed-8194.aspx

“There was, briefly, a glimmer of hope. Pamela Taylor, a Progressive Conservative candidate in Thursday’s Ontario by-election, listed John Baird as an openly gay conservative MP. It was a gaffe, not because Baird is, in fact, heterosexual, but because he doesn’t talk about his sexuality.”
http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/So_much_for_John_Bairds_reputation_as_a_gutsy_brawler-8197.aspx
Anon

Jenn – Optimism is a wonderful thing, but I’m not surprised that people who will very prominently be on the firing line if your optimism is misplaced feel more cautiously about it than you do. Brison wasn’t just typecast, remember – the infinitely lamentable “angry redneck” section of our party abused him quite mercilessly. I know one person who worked in his office, who used to literally go home in tears at all the gay-bashing mail he got. I doubt he himself ever saw the mail, but I doubt even more that those idiots limited themselves to angry letters. I do not begrudge anyone their desire to avoid that.

Mike – On one hand I’ll take the 10% number I routinely hear from gay activists, and on the other hand I’ll take a very short-form census of who is hanging around in which social groups at which hospitality suites late on Saturday night at a PC convention. You come to PC conventions and stay up late, the only question is whether gays are 1/3 or 1/2 of the population. That said, I’ll note that it’s Ontario youth I’m talking about – I don’t claim that this holds to all areas of the country or all age groups.

As for Brison, he got re-elected because he’s an effective MP, and has been on both sides of the aisle, and also because he comes from a riding where his personal standing is quite high. Even after he stabbed us in the back(both Conservatives in general, and people like myself who supported him in the ’03 leadership race specifically), I still like the guy, and I would very seriously have considered supporting the Liberals in ’08 if he’d won the leadership somehow. But don’t kid yourself – he’s taken a lot of shit ever since Svend Robinson outed him(classy guy that he is), and he spent many years being the token gay Tory. Whether that’s better than staying quiet, I don’t know, but it had negative repercussions as well as positive ones.

As for the case of Baird, I don’t know the guy well enough to be sure, but I’d bet good money that the reason he doesn’t talk about it isn’t because he considers it a dirty little secret, it’s because he considers it completely irrelevant to his position as a politician. Government isn’t supposed to care about that stuff, and you can fight just as well for your beliefs whether the country knows your sexual preferences or not.
Gharp

this is news to me,,,,,,,,,,now I can see why he is such a bitch at question time
JCanuck

The fact that Baird is gay is not an issue to anyone in the ‘progressive’ camp.
The fact that Baird is a homosexual is an issue to ‘social conservative’ Conservatives.

So for you Conservative Christians and Muslims:
Remember a vote for Baird may mean your eternal damnation in Hell fire.
http://linemerrette.pip.verisignlabs.com/ femme_et_Verte

Maxime Bernier. Why did he have to hire a “girlfriend”? Pretty obvious.
Taichi69

It is relevant to progressive individuals that John Baird is gay. Baird is a member of the most oppressive, small minded, and xenophobic gov’ts in recent memory. Baird has become a hench men in carrying out that agenda. As someone who is gay, how can he be associated with (never mind an agent of) such horrific oppression, when it is only liberal ideas, views, and politicians that decriminalised homosexuality. He should be ashamed of himself.
hopeful

I took 54 years to come out. It is a personal decision that was not easy. John Baird will decide when he is ready and I would recommend he do get some counselling. This says more about our society and the hatred that still exists by institutions such as religion. When will we become truly free to be whoever we are?
Avenueoh

What if I was to tell you that John has three sisters, the oldest Paula then Wendy and Cathy and that they lived in south keys in the mid/ late 70t, I and my brother were invited by Blake who is full of scata today, but this is not today, and yesterday is vivid in my mind.
The girl I liked, and will always have a place in my heart is Leisha McCrum, and as a little boy back then mojo gets the best of most, Leisha was a best friend of Cathy Baird and Wendy! when Blake Harper first brought us to their house and started to kiss, “THREE girls and three boys, with this family and never knew there was a son until later.
What if I was to tell you that JOHN BAIRD went too Dunlap School as a child and that there was a child;s play ground right beside that school that many mothers or nanny had taken the children to play in? but John at the time would have no problem pissing from above.
Above meaning, their was a time when in the play ground that had sunk ships in the beach sand, with a mast with no sail, he would climb the mast and pee with care, and on one evening he pissed on me, and we went back to their house so as I can tack a shower after he pissed on me.
John Baird, I don’t care who you think you are, cause people know what and who you are.
ps try the liberals
Prairieoysters

There were Jewish Nazis.
Illinois

Whatever his orientation, I hope the pig is celibate.