Cecil Clarke, mayor of the Cape Breton
Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia's second largest municipality, has
announced he's gay.
Clarke told Canadian broadcaster CBC
News that he decided to speak out publicly about his sexuality after
someone threatened to out him.
The 49-year-old Clarke, who is expected
on Saturday to seek the leadership of the Nova Scotia Progressive
Conservative Party, said that he did not want to announce his
intentions “having people think that they are going to shame me, or
hold something over me, or make it negative that, in this day and
age, that being gay is somehow a bad thing.”
“If that's homophobia and the fact
that I'm gay in political life, then shame on people that do that.”
“I'm in a committed relationship. I
love the person I'm with. That man is very special to me. And I'm
not prepared to go on my future journey alone, and I'm not going to
do it ashamed or afraid or not proud of who I am as a person,” he
added.
He also revealed that he was sexually
assaulted when he was four and seven. “I thought I'd recovered
very well from that and that I had the love of a family that was
there for me and a community that supported me. This week, all of
that hurt and pain came barreling back,” Clarke said.
According to CBC News, Clarke is a
vocal supporter of LGBT rights and participated in Pride parades as
mayor.