Alberta Premier Danielle Smith poses with ‘straight pride’ constituent, receives blowback online

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is being slammed online after a photo of her posing with a man wearing a shirt saying “straight pride” was shared widely online.

The front of the shirt says, “Thank a straight person today for your existence, and the back of his shirt says, “Good people disobey bad laws.”

Imagine being a young queer person in Alberta and seeing your Premier @ABDanielleSmith supporting shit like this pic.twitter.com/6LiUNGklN9

— Jonathan Cluett (@joncluett) July 10, 2023

“Imagine being a young queer person in Alberta and seeing your Premier @ABDanielleSmith supporting s— like this,” the tweet from Jonathan Cluett reads.

The photos were taken at a United Conservative Party (UCP) Stampede event in northeast Calgary, where several MLAs and members participated.

Several tweets online called out Smith for her display, while others said she was doing her job as premier.

Straight pride? It’s the same as White Lives Matter. Disgusting. It’s pure ignorance. But what can anyone expect from the Queen of Wild Rose Country? The guy is an racist idiot…but she is supposed to be a leader. Fukk her. #DanielleSmithIsUnfitToLead pic.twitter.com/ZKqCLYMvYQ

— IslandMan (@LaBeaujardine) July 10, 2023

Is he a resident of Alberta?
Is she the Premier of Alberta?

Great leadership involves valuing all people, regardless of their background, ethnicity, gender sexual orientation or any other individual difference. It entails listening to them, understanding where they are coming… https://t.co/7W8Mty8zsG

— Eva Chipiuk, BSc, LLB, LLM (@echipiuk) July 10, 2023

NDP MLA Janis Irwin said on Twitter that Smith is surrounded by staffers everywhere she goes and that “there’s absolutely no excuse for this.”

“And to say she always ‘supports the LGBTQ+ community’ is laughable,” Irwin said in a tweet.

“I’d encourage her to be better, but it’s clear she has no interest in doing so.”

However, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith doesn’t agree with the message, according to her spokesperson.

Sam Blackett, press secretary for the premier, tells CityNews that Smith “didn’t read his shirt and obviously doesn’t agree with its message.”

“She has always been clear that she supports the LGBTQ+ community and will continue our work to make sure they feel safe in our province,” Blackett said.

Meanwhile, Lizette Tejada, the Alberta NDP’s critic for LGBTQ issues, said in a statement that Smith has a history of “amplifying messages of hate and intolerance” and accused her of refusing to take responsibility for her past “tacit approval” of such messages.

“It’s impossible to believe that neither she nor anyone in her staff read the T-shirt worn by her supporter. Danielle Smith clearly had no problem with the hateful message she posed with,” Tejada’s statement said.

“I call on Danielle Smith to offer a real apology to the 2SLGBTQ+ community and a commitment to defend those in the community against the attacks they are facing.”

Smith said during Pride Month that “everyone deserves to feel safe, welcomed, and respected in our province,” adding that Albertans are typically inclusive, “there is still more work to be done.”

“That’s why we will continue to listen to 2SLGBTQIA+ Albertan’s concerns and find ways to strengthen our relationships through dialogue and tangible action,” her tweet reads.

June marks Pride Month ????️‍????

Everyone deserves to feel safe, welcomed, and respected in our province. And although Albertans are exceptionally inclusive and kind, there is still more work to do.

That’s why we will continue to listen to 2SLGBTQIA+ Albertan’s concerns and find…

— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) June 4, 2023

Meanwhile, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre also took a picture with the same man and received condemnation online.

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his wife, Anaida, pose for a photo with an unidentified man wearing a “straight pride” T-shirt during a Calgary Stampede event in Calgary, Alta., in a recent photo published to Twitter by user @BSpence1983. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Twitter, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Spokesperson Sebastian Skamski said Poilevre was posing with “hundreds of people” at the Stampede Saturday and wasn’t “reading what was written on his shirt.”

He added that “Poilievre does not agree with the message displayed on the T-shirt,” saying that Conservatives are working to build a country where everyone is free to be themselves, “regardless of their sexual orientation.”

During Pride Month, Poilievre said the occasion celebrates “freedom from bigotry” and the right to be viewed as an individual instead of being lumped together in a group identity.

Before becoming federal Conservative leader last fall, Poilievre began appearing before crowds of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of Conservative faithful and supporters of his leadership bid.

After such appearances, he frequently poses for photos with those in attendance.

-With files from The Canadian Press