'Gay Zombies' Face $104 Million Lawsuit for Crashing Pride Toronto

A group of antigay activists who marched as marijuana-loving "gay zombies" in Pride Toronto are being sued for disseminating "hate speech."

William Whatcott and his supporters had participated in the pro-LGBT parade in July by registering under the fake name Gay Zombies Cannabis Consumers Association.

The group, wearing green bodysuits and rainbow accessories, passed out antigay pamphlets to Pride attendees. Disguised as condoms, the literature contained misinformation about the health hazards of gay sex as well as graphic images of sexually transmitted infections and an AIDS-related death.

In response, Ontario's former deputy premier, George Smitherman, and local bar owner Christopher Hudspeth are suing the group for $104 million. The lawsuit is being handled by Cambridge LLP and was filed by one of its out attorneys, Douglas Elliott.

Hudspeth, the owner of Pegasus on Church, expressed his indignation at Whatcott and his ruse at a recent press conference in Ottawa.

"As a longtime gay activist, I am outraged that a notorious homophobe infiltrated our Pride parade in order to spread his lies and distribute his pamphlets," Hudspeth said, according to Canadian news channel CP24. "Pride needs to be a safe place for everyone. We put up with enough homophobic messaging every day. We deserve a homophobic-free zone at our Pride parade."

This is not the first time Whatcott has infiltrated Pride events. The antigay activist organized a Heterosexual Pride Day in 2011. He also handed out homophobic leaflets disguised as condoms at Vancouver Pride in 2014, when he marched as a member of the so-called Calgary Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

In an interview with LifeSite, Whatcott said he engaged in Pride-crashing as a means of more effectively distributing his antigay message.

"If you try to give out a Gospel pamphlet, they swear at you and throw slushies on your forehead. But, give them some wackadoddle [sic] thing that looks like a condom, and they really can't grab it fast enough. I had 3,000 out in 20 minutes," he said.

A lawyer on the case said the lawsuit would stop Whatcott from "further distribution of hate speech and from attempting to participate in any future pride parades anywhere in Canada." Hudspeth also hopes it will reveal the identities of groups who might be backing Whatcott.

"There is no doubt in my mind that some fundamentalist group is backing these activities. We need to smoke them out," he said.

In a statement to Daily Xtra, Whatcott defended his right to march in the parade. He also questioned why he was being targeted instead of Black Lives Matter Toronto, which stalled the same parade for about 25 minutes in a planned demonstration.

"It seems to me the poor homosexuals are angry at God and the Gospel. They should have welcomed me in their parade as a much-needed truth teller, and indeed I was far less disruptive than BLM. Not sure why the homosexual activists aren't suing them," he said.