On Saturday morning, Jim Watson the Mayor of Ottawa made an important announcement via an Op-Ed published by the Ottawa Citizen.
“I’m gay,” declared Watson. “There – I said it; or rather, wrote it,” he added, going on to say that those two words had taken him nearly 40 years to proclaim.
Having been involved with municipal politics since he was 30 years old, the now nearly 60-year-old mayor said that not making his sexuality known sooner was “a big mistake.”
While Watson says there had been a number of tell-tale signs pointing to his recently announced sexuality, said the taunting he endured in middle school, the lack of guidance and resources for LGBTQ2+ youth in the 1970s and his shyness, all contributed to him not coming out earlier.
“Unlike today, back when I was a teenager in the 1970s there were virtually no resources to seek for guidance or help, or just to talk. No LGBTQ clubs or gay-straight alliances,” said Watson.
“Growing up, I was very shy and a bit of a loner, and very socially awkward. Even if I thought or knew that I was gay back then, making it known publicly would have been pretty daunting and lonely for a teenager,” he added.
Throughout his career, Watson says his sexuality had only been brought up once and that over the last few years, he often struggled with whether or not to come out.
“There was not really one Eureka moment when I decided to write this,” said Watson, before going onto list some of the great political-pioneers that inspired him to speak his truth and sharing stories of two events that helped spark a turning point.
In 2014, Watson announced that the city of Ottawa would keep their pride flag raised in solidarity of the gay athletes competing in the Sochi Olympics due to the fear they expressed in light of the Russian government’s homophobic attitude.
The Pride Flag will fly at Ottawa City Hall until the end of the Olympics. #Sochi2014 pic.twitter.com/MW2qo3FsAS
— Jim Watson (@JimWatsonOttawa) February 6, 2014
While he received over 2,000 retweets of support, it was his response to one naysayer that had him go viral.
The Pride Flag will fly at Ottawa City Hall until the end of the Olympics. #Sochi2014 pic.twitter.com/MW2qo3FsAS
— Jim Watson (@JimWatsonOttawa) February 6, 2014
The other event happened in passing with a city resident who Watson recalled made an offensive remark about his upcoming attendance of the Ottawa Pride Parade in 2017.
Saying ‘’I hope you’re not going in that f** parade,’’ to which Watson’s responded with ‘’I’m looking forward to marching in the Pride Parade, and I plan on doing so again, so why don’t you join me?’” — leaving the man speechless.
Even prior to coming out, Watson has been known to make great strides in the municipal rights of Ottawa’s LGBTQ2+ community including being the city’s first mayor to march in a pride parade and voting in favour of a same-sex marriage motion.
While his personal liberation will undoubtedly spark bravery in others, he hopes to not have them feel pressured, while adding he also hopes others will not wait as long as he did.
“My reluctance has not allowed me to live my life as full of love and adventure as my gay friends who were bolder and braver than I ever was,”
Finalizing his op-ed with a simple yet impactful statement, Watson wrote: "So there it is, my coming out story, 40 years in the making.”
Since the release of the article, Watson has received an outpouring of Internet support, accumulating nearly 30,000 likes on the initial tweet of his Op-Ed.
Congratulations, Mayor Watson!
