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New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s courtship of his wife, Chirlane McCray, has all the makings of a Hollywood romcom. They met in 1991 when she started working at New York City Hall. He — according to a 2013 New York Times profile on the story, a “lanky, bearded operative across the building” — was instantly attracted to her, but she had “zero interest” in him, or in any man, being a lesbian and a veteran of the black feminist movement to boot.

So OK, maybe not a Hollywood film, maybe a Netflix series. But still.

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According to McCray, de Blasio “flirted with her mercilessly.” He called her nonstop and even tried to “steal an unwelcome kiss.” Once the relationship got into tentative motion, de Blasio pressed her to advance at a pace she was uncomfortable with. “I actually told him, ‘Slow this down,’ ” McCray told her interviewer. When he persisted, she ordered him to “back off.” He didn’t.

She called his behaviour sweetly persistent, but always respectful

In the light of contemporary sexual politics, McCray felt compelled to later elaborate on her lighthearted revelations. Reframing her narrative, she said she did not push back against de Blasio “because he was in any way out of line.” Rather, she called his behaviour “sweetly persistent,” but “always respectful.”