A Toronto school board trustee has come under fire for calling a city councillor a “windbag” and saying the LGBT community is discriminating against straight people.
Sam Sotiropoulos, a trustee with the Toronto District School Board, said he is standing his ground after directing the insult at Coun. Shelley Carroll during an exchange on Twitter, in which Carroll referred to one of his tweets about discrimination as the “dumbest yet.”
When the trustee called her out, Carroll responded by saying she was “being kind.”
The trustee shot back, saying “so, in other words, you weren’t being your usual windbag self?”
In an interview, Carroll said she felt the need to weigh in following a series of tweets from Sotiropoulos suggesting he is being “bullied” online after last week questioning the appropriateness of public nudity during Toronto’s annual Pride parade.
Sotiropoulos claimed he was the victim of “homosexism,” which he defined as discrimination against a heterosexual person by members of the LGBT community.
One of the most divisive influences in Canada today is #homosexism it's disseminators are maliciously rabid. #TDSB #TOpoli #ONpoli #CDNpoli
— Sam Sotiropoulos (@TrusteeSam) February 13, 2014
I will not be bullied. Call me whatever names you like. I stand up against ALL forms of discrimination. There are no exceptions. #homosexism
— Sam Sotiropoulos (@TrusteeSam) February 13, 2014
Sotiropoulos said was prompted to send out the tweets Thursday, claiming he was being slandered and vilified by anonymous Twitter users.
“There are labels being cast at me which are not true. First and foremost, that I’m a homophobe or that I’m a discontented middle age white male,” he said in an interview. “That’s nonsense.”
Carroll said she takes issue with his tweets regarding not only Pride, but student inclusivity.
“His comments all this week have been so far afield of the TDSB’s policies of a fair society and inclusiveness, he’s just really, really departed from his own board’s philosophy,” she said in an interview. “Today was really the height of it.”
On Twitter, users said Sotiropoulos crossed the line, and that the TDSB should take action following his “lack of civility.”
@TrusteeSam @tdsb @TDSB_Media Sam, are their social media guidelines for Trustees? TDSB don't you have rules for civil discourse of Trustees
— Univrsle (@univrsle) February 13, 2014
@tdsb The words of @TrusteeSam to @shelleycarroll would require apology in a meeting. No excuse to let it fly online. #TOpoli"
— Monika Moravan (@MonikaMoravan25) February 13, 2014
Others questioned his use of the term “homosexism.”
@TrusteeSam I'll ask a third time. "Homosexism" implies violent discrimination against straight people for being straight. Any examples?
— Alex Naylor (@_alexnaylor) February 13, 2014
It’s not the first time Sotiropoulos has come under fire for his tweets.
In 2012, he called youth “ill-bred twerps” after reportedly witnessing a confrontation between students and a principal at a Scarborough school.
Some students and trustees called the tweet unprofessional, but Sotiropoulos refused to apologize and said he never intended to offend anyone with his comments, and that he only wanted to show his support for TDSB employees.
