Toronto school trustee Sam Sotiropoulos sent out thousands of robo-calls to his Scarborough ward this week to explain his opposition to nudity in the Gay Pride Parade does not mean he’s against homosexuality.

He will call on trustees Wednesday night to ask City Council to enforce laws against public nudity in the parade, which usually includes some marchers who are either scantily dressed or naked.

“I made the (automated) call to explain that I’m not anti-gay or anti-Pride, but our school board code of conduct mandates us to respect all the laws of the city, the province and country,” he said in an interview Tuesday. His motion calls on the board to seek a guarantee from the City that it will not allow the nudity often seen at the annual march, in which the school board has a float.

“I’m actually puzzled as to why the parade organizers haven’t said anything about this issue,” said Sotiropoulos, who triggered a backlash from the gay community when he first raised concerns earlier this year in a series of tweets to City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam. “It casts a distasteful pall over the event.”

Sotiropoulos will be claiming the cost of the calls, because he said they were an “official communication and cheaper than a mailing.”

Education director Donna Quan has since sent an email to staff informing them that some nudity has been a tradition at the parade because "it started as a liberation protest that rejects shame, bias and judgments for people celebrating themselves for who they are."

Quan said the last known arrest for nudity at the Pride parade was in 2000, and those charges were later dropped.

Besides Sotiropoulous’s vote, the board will also consider a motion from two other trustees reaffirming the board’s commitment to gay rights and the Gay Pride parade. Trustees Maria Rodrigues and Pam Gough want to encourage staff and students to continue to support an event they say is “both a celebration and a political event that has greatly added to the richness of Toronto.”