Todd Hauptman has decided to clear the air about a few things following his bombshell resignation as 91原创 Liberal candidate Mary Polak鈥檚 campaign manager one week before the election.
鈥淚 stand by what I said, but maybe not how I did it,鈥� said Hauptman about releasing his resignation letter to the media.
In his letter, Hauptman explained that he couldn鈥檛 continue to campaign for a Liberal party that has individuals in it who make him feel less of a person because he is a homosexual.
鈥淪ometimes you have to do things based on your convictions even if they aren鈥檛 popular. But in my letter, I did my very best to be gracious to Mary,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 never wanted this to be about me, I wanted it to be about the issue.鈥�
He said he didn鈥檛 respond to media requests for interviews following his announcement, because he 鈥渄idn鈥檛 want to drag it out and harm the campaign.鈥�
To that end, he has faced a lot of criticism for accusing the Liberal Party of not being tolerant of the gay community, he said.
He promised he would go into detail about what he meant, and to what extent he feels homophobia exists in 91原创, after the storm of the election blows over.
But he did say, 鈥渨alk a day in my shoes in 91原创.
鈥淚n our day and age we鈥檝e made major progress but there is an underlining culture that if you are a homosexual you are different,鈥� he said.
Hauptman said he hasn鈥檛 talked to Polak since the day he quit but planned to phone her after the election results were in on Tuesday night.
He said he was shocked that Polak made 鈥渇alse allegations鈥� against him, suggesting he may have shared campaign strategy with rival NDP candidate Andrew Mercier鈥檚 camp.
鈥淚 first learned about those allegations against me through that press conference,鈥� he said.
The meeting they had on the morning he resigned wasn鈥檛 about information sharing, he said. It was about her concerns he was friends with a member of Mercier鈥檚 campaign.
鈥淚 have always had friendships within all the parties and I won鈥檛 stop that,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese are my friends on a personal level and I am not going to surround myself with Liberals only.鈥�
Mercier called Polak鈥檚 accusations of Hauptman sharing information 鈥渞idiculous.鈥�
Hauptman was surprised and 鈥渉urt鈥� by her allegations she made to the press.
鈥淚 have worked extremely hard for Mary for two years, to do the best I can do for her. Look at the NDP鈥檚 response.鈥�
He also wanted to set the record straight about accusations a blogger made about 91原创 City Mayor Peter Fassbender not accepting Hauptman because of his sexuality.
鈥淚 have never had anything but respect from Peter. In National Coming Out Day in October, I did post something on my Facebook. Peter came to me privately and asked me if it was true and I said it was.
鈥淗e shared his faith beliefs with me but not in a mean way or anything I didn鈥檛 already know,鈥� he said.
鈥淓ver since that day, he鈥檚 shown me total respect and we spoke last week and he called and spoke to my mom last night (Monday).鈥�
Hauptman said in the end, it comes down to respect and equality for everyone, no matter what faith, race or sexuality.
