Mayor Rob Ford will raise the flag at the start of Pride Week this summer, his brother Doug Ford told a Ryerson class during a speaker series with City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam.

This is the first time Mayor Ford will attend an official pride event since becoming mayor three years ago. 

“He’s going to raise both flags. It’s a done deal,” said Doug, referring to the Pride Parade flag-raising and the flag-raising at City Hall marking the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

Wong-Tam, an openly gay activist for LGBTQ, asked Doug to reassert the claim that the Mayor will raise the flag, and he replied, “Rob doesn’t give two hoots if you’re gay, straight, purple, pink, black, white. You call Rob Ford up, he’s calling you back, he’s showing up to your door.”

In 2011 and 2012, Mayor Ford missed Pride Parade to spend the weekend with his family at the cottage. In doing so, Ford broke the tradition for Toronto’s mayor to march in Pride parade.

Last May, Mayor Ford showed up unexpectedly at the flag-raising ceremony that marked the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. In his first public show of support for Toronto’s gay community, Ford raised a rainbow flag to mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. 

Doug and Wong-Tam spoke at the Speaker Series “Law, Business, Politics: The Real World,” hosted by The Department of Law and Business at the Ted Rogers School of Management.