It’s reassuring that Premier Kathleen Wynne was welcomed to the India’s Golden Temple despite a major newspaper’s front-page warning that she would be shunned as “pro-gay,” says Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown.

“One’s sexual orientation should have no bearing on politics, foreign affairs or public service,” said Brown in a statement Monday.

The PC leader recently returned from a trip to India with several of his MPPs.

“I know the vast majority in Canada and India share my condemnation of homophobia.”

On Sunday, the Hindustan Times, which has a circulation of 1.1 million, published a headline stating “Pro-gay Ontario premier runs into an ethical wall in Punjab” on the eve of her visit to the Sikh faith’s revered temple.

The story below said the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee decided not to honour Wynne — who is openly gay and in India on a trade mission with her spouse, Jane Rounthwaite — with a siropa (robe of honour) during her visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

“Reason: Wynne, a lesbian, is a supporter of same-sex marriages, a practice opposed by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs,” the newspaper wrote in the second most important story on its front page.

As events played out, Wynne was given a warm welcome at the temple and received the orange cotton robe in a private ceremony after touring the site for two hours.

Brown suggested the media-fuelled controversy was regrettable.

“I would certainly be disappointed if the sequence of events happened as reported. There is no place for homophobia anywhere, regardless if it is in Amritsar or Toronto,” he said in a statement to the Star.

“I am glad that, despite conflicting reports, the premier was welcomed to the Golden Temple.”

Wynne said she was thrilled by the visit, where she also helped prepare chapati in a huge kitchen that serves free meals to 70,000 pilgrims daily.

“People were so gracious and happy to have us there. It was very humbling, actually,” she told the Star’s Robert Benzie.

“The head of the temple wanted to talk about one issue. You know what it was? Turbans on motorcycles, helmets on motorcycles,” she added, noting that Ontario does not allow religious exemptions for wearing a helmet while riding.

Last month, Brown took four caucus members along on his 16th trip to India to talk about trade opportunities, even securing a visit with his longtime friend and supporter, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Before leaving on her own trip to India, Wynne was asked about Brown’s campaign-style visit and dismissed it as a “winter vacation.”

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“Here’s the thing: Patrick Brown has travelled as a private citizen to India; I’m going as the premier of Ontario. We are taking business leaders with us. We are doing real business,” Wynne said in January.

Conservatives noted Brown’s trip was as leader of Ontario’s official Opposition and that he was welcomed in a visit to Modi’s home.

Aside from trade, the political stakes are high in the visits to India as there are about 700,000 Indo-Canadians in Ontario and the Liberals are acutely aware of Brown’s strong ties with South Asian voters.

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