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Loading ...Canadian politician: Execute gays
10.02.2008 12:20pm EDT
(Sudbury, Ontario) A Northern Ontario candidate running for a seat in Canada’s parliament could find himself sitting in jail instead, after telling high school students that gays should be executed.
Sudbury police are investigating David Popescu under Canada’s hate crime law, which makes it a federal offense to promote hatred or incite violence against minorities, including gays and lesbians.Popescu was one of a number of candidates invited to participate in a question and answer session with students at Sudbury Secondary School.
He made the remark after a student asked him for his opinion of same-sex marriage which became legal in Canada in 2004.
People who were in the room said that students jeered Popescu when he made that comment and others, including blaming the economic downturn and environmental damage on the wickedness of society and that, “God would hurt” those who had an abortion.
Reporters were not in the room when Popescu made the remark. But contacted later by The Sudbury Star newspaper, he repeated the comment about gays.
“A young man asked me what I think of homosexual marriages and I said I think homosexuals should be executed,” he told the paper. “My whole reason for running is the Bible, and the Bible couldn’t be more clear on that point,” he told the paper.
“We are actively conducting a criminal investigation in this matter,” Sudbury Deputy Police Chief Frank Elsner told The Star.
Elsner said the information will be turned over to the Ontario Attorney General’s office to determine if a charge will be laid.
Popescu is known in the region for his far-right views, but a spokesperson for the city’s LGBT community said this time he went too far.
“He’s not simply saying that lesbians or gay men are mentally ill or somehow deviant or criminals. He’s saying we should be subject to the death penalty,” Gary Kinsman told The Star. “I think sometimes violence and hatred towards gays and lesbians gets dressed up in sort of a religious guise and is somehow tolerated. I just don’t think it should be tolerated at all.”
Canadians go to the polls Oct. 14 to elect a new government.
or is he going to try to ban shrimp cocktails? that’s an abomination too.
How about wearing cotton/polyester blend. That’s bad too. Cutting the hair at your temples? Those are all big no-no’s in ole’ Leviticus.
Nice to see a similarity between the US and Canada; Technically this would be a crime down here too. This wouldn’t be considered protected speech down here. It falls along the lines of shouting “Fire” in a crowded theatre.
Calling this nut a “Canadian politician” is a misleading. He’s an obscure local crazy running as an Independent. Canada has 4 major parties and several more minor parties. He represents none of them. Basically he’s just some guy who filed paperwork to put his name on a ballot. If he gets a dozen votes I’d be surprised.
Well I guess it won’t hurt to say that all religious right wing bigots like him should be executed now should it
Thank you, Clay. It’s difficult to have much perspective on the politics in other nations when our own are so…..well, you get the idea
I agree fully , with Tiger Tzu. Gays must take more pro-active actions towards defending ourselves and the community at large. I do not agree with the statement on mental illness , though. Many religious zealots are delusional , but the conservative theological approach to our segement of humanity is uniformly negative , dangerous , and being religious in origin; is an item at the core of the ultimate human fear , which is naturally far more pronounced in those who are faith based (swooning dramatically?); that being the fear of death.
Further to Clay’s comments: he has run in half a dozen elections already as an Independent. He always pushes a view of Chirstianity so extreme that even the right-wing churches disown him. You might even call him a sort of Canadian Fred Phelps, except that he doesn’t claim to be a pastor. The Sudbury Star reported that there was a shocked reaction from the students when Popescu gave his answer. All is not lost!
He is not a Canadian politician nor a real candidate; in the 2006 election he only received 54 of the 47649 total votes cast in his riding, even behind the communist party.
Wow – wild, given that for over 30 years, Canada doesn’t have the death penalty for *anything*
I so much admire our neighbor to the North ( that we in the U.S. so often take for granted – when we are lucky to have them ). Their overall laws of equality for all of their citizens is so much stronger than here in the U.S. that We can learn much from them. As for this right wing screw ball I only say if somone says they are going to kill you it is folly to dismiss them as not sincere. In this instance it appears the government is enabled to protect its threatened citizens . . . so that in this case they do not have to take the law into their own hands. Hurrah for Canada – and they have great Geography to. These words of praise should not be confused with my ownl love of my special Country the good old U.S. of A. I will say we are coming off of about 20 years of the far right wing crowd dominating government but a giant page is about to be turned coming November.
After reading about his man’s treatment of his own mother (abuse conviction)that he should say the Bible is his guide. Does the Bible not say honour thy father and thy mother. This is a Christian? The Bible also says treat thy neighbour as thyself. It also says that as you treat the least of my children so you are treating me.
It really irks me when people use the Bible or any other Holy Book to promote hate.
When Jesus was on the earth he visited the lepers and people were appalled. I wonder how many so-called Christians have spent time with HIV/AIDS patients, who are treated like lepers by Bible-thumpers.
I hope that that man never gets elected. His comment is extremely hateful and someone like that should not be permitted to hold such a respectable position (representing the people). And the Bible says to love your enemies, not execute them.
I’m not defending his comments of course, but regarding the Canadian law, is saying gays should be “executed” the same as “inciting violence”? You’re not advising anyone to rise up, you’re not telling people to kill. You’re basically saying “there should be a law based on the bible and the violation of that law should be death”… not quite the same thing as wanting people to rise up and kill. He didn’t stand in that gym and tell those kids they should kill. Again, I have to emphasize I’m asking this from a legal standpoint and not condoning this guy who’s obviously a complete crackpot.
It takes a long time for hatreds to end, doesn’t it. At least Canada has a room for this guy waiting at their big house.
Here in MD we had a legislator say exactly the same thing early this year. To show the moral depravity of right wing religion and how it poisons societies, I can tell you that some of his ancestors were most likely castrated and lynched for whistling at a woman of different skin color.
And these hatreds are little different then the hatred against Jews that gave hitler the lever to gain absolute power, and kill 50 million people in WWII. And that coward took his own life, rather then face justice in the end.
Maybe there is something to this business I really don’t understand about being “born again”. Yuk
Sicko. Just like the 9/11 gang.
Hatred and Ignorance is a choice.