Article content

VICTORIA — The mayor of Invermere says his bisexuality is the “minority status” that allowed him to challenge and defeat a female disability advocate for the B.C. NDP’s nomination in Columbia River-Revelstoke.

Gerry Taft made the disclosure to local media in his riding, saying he didn’t want debate over the NDP’s contentious gender equity policy to overshadow his candidacy in the 2017 provincial election.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Invermere mayor discloses he's bisexual, to meet NDP gender policy Back to video

“I live with my partner Nozomi and my young son, but I identify as bisexual,” he said in a media statement published by the Columbia Valley Pioneer.

“This has always been a private matter; as a result, I have never made a public declaration about my sexuality. I’ve never felt that I had to. I am choosing to disclose now because it will allow us to turn our attention away from the equity mandate towards the issues that really matter to this region.”

Taft is seeking to replace incumbent MLA Norm Macdonald in the May 2017 election. The NDP’s gender equity policy states any riding vacated by a male NDP MLA must have a female candidate or a member of an “equity-seeking” group, such as a racial minority, First Nation or LGBTQ.