Conservative leadership candidate Brad Trost vows to never march in any “gay pride parade” as leader of the party — and his campaign spokesman says Trost “isn’t entirely comfortable with the whole gay thing.”

Tuesday is the final day for would-be members to join the Conservative party in order to be eligible to vote in the leadership race. And while some candidates are trying to appeal to members by taking tough stances on immigration, Trost is doubling down on his beliefs regarding sexual relationships and family structure.

“In 2009, when a former Minister of the Conservative Government announced $400,000 in funding for Toronto’s ‘gay pride’ week, I led the Conservative Caucus in opposing this announcement and went on the record with my opposition to any such funding,” Trost wrote in a fundraising email Tuesday morning.

“I have not marched in any ‘gay pride’ parade. Further, I will NOT march in any ‘gay pride’ parade as Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, nor will I march in or FUND any ‘gay pride’ event of any kind as Prime Minister.”

Trost’s campaign spokesman Mike Patton uploaded a campaign video to social media Tuesday in which he offered this remarkable understatement: “In case you haven’t noticed, Brad isn’t entirely comfortably with the whole gay thing.”

Brad Trost Campaign Update for Tuesday March 28th – Gay Pride https://t.co/4AYRQRg2F4 #cpcldr #cdnpoli — Brad Trost (@BradTrostCPC) March 28, 2017

Trost retweeted it.

The deadline for submitting hard copy and paper memberships is 5 p.m. and the deadline for purchasing online memberships is midnight tonight.

Kevin O’Leary, Maxime Bernier and Steven Blaney all attempted to appeal to would-be members by trying to grab headlines on Monday.

In an email on Monday, O’Leary suggested using the notwithstanding clause to block refugee claims by people who enter Canada illegally.

O’Leary’s email is a response to a recent spike in illegal border-crossings from the U.S. into Canada, primarily in Emerson, Manitoba and rural Quebec. Under the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country agreement, migrants who seek to cross at official border crossings are turned back if they have already made refugee claims in the U.S.

O’Leary tried to make the argument that Ottawa could act unilaterally if the U.S. doesn’t agree to amend that agreement.

“If the U.S. won’t agree to closing the loophole so that those crossing into Canada illegally are returned to the U.S. where they are entitled to a fair hearing before an independent court, then Canada must act on its own,” said the email.

Also on Monday, Bernier took O’Leary’s message one step further, saying he would not only use the notwithstanding clause, he’d deploy the military as a “temporary” measure to backstop existing police and border resources.

“If it takes too long to put that additional manpower in place, I will look at additional temporary measures — including deploying Canadian Forces in troubled border areas,” Bernier said in a statement.

Blaney issued a questionable fundraising email denouncing alleged anti-Semitic remarks by some Muslim leaders.

The email, containing the subject line “Should Allah kill all the Jews?”, referenced an imam and former Ryerson University teaching assistant who was recently removed from his position over alleged anti-Jewish remarks.

While candidates are fighting tooth and nail for headlines, Kellie Leitch’s former campaign manager Nick Kouvalis is trying to make the argument that it’s a two-way race between O’Leary and Leitch.

For at least the past five weeks, iPolitics‘ leadership tracking polls have shown a very tight race between O’Leary and Maxime Bernier.

“If you haven’t sold 25,000+ memberships, then your 25 endorsements or new found support for a Border Missile Defense Program won’t matter,” tweeted Kouvalis. “It’s @kevinolearytv vs @KellieLeitch on final ballot, because they’ve sold more than 25,000 memberships. @MaximeBernier hasn’t. 1 day left.”

It's @kevinolearytv vs @KellieLeitch on final ballot, because they've sold more than 25,000 memberships. @MaximeBernier hasn't. 1 day left. — Nick Kouvalis (@NickKouvalis) March 27, 2017

Special interest groups are also encouraging supporters to register to vote. Campaign Life Coalition is trying to sell 15,000 memberships.

“If they get there, they could be a real X-factor,” said president of Mainstreet Research Quito Maggi. If anti-abortion candidates Trost and Pierre Lemieux are eliminated in one of the initial rounds, Andrew Scheer could benefit from those votes.

The anti-abortion and anti-euthanasia group Right Now sent an email blast late Monday urging supporters to register to vote for a pro-life leader.

“Even if you don’t normally vote Conservative, but agree that we need more pro-life politicians in the House of Commons, including the leader of a major political party, please buy a membership today so that you can vote!” reads the email. The group’s top three choices in ranked order are Pierre Lemieux, Andrew Scheer and Brad Trost.

With files from Canadian Press.