Kyle Rae
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Kyle Rae is a city councillor for Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale in Toronto, Canada. He has a Master's Degree in History from the University of Birmingham, and a Master of Library Science Degree from the University of Toronto. A prominent gay rights activist, Rae was executive director of the 519 Church Street Community Centre in the heart of the Church and Wellesley area.
He was first elected to Toronto city council in 1991 as a left-leaning councillor filling the seat vacated by Jack Layton (who was running for mayor at the time). He was the city's first openly gay city councillor. On city council, he continued campaign for gay rights. He also played a prominent role in the controversial campaign to introduce affirmative action in the city's fire department.
A longtime member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, he left the party because of Premier Bob Rae's (no relation) inaction on gay rights issues. Rae led a local NDP boycott of the 1993 by-election in his St. George—St. David to protest the inaction. In recent years, Rae supported John Sewell's independent candidacy in the 1999 provincial election [1] and federal Liberal Bill Graham [2].
In 2002, he was sued for defamation by members of the Toronto Police Force after he sharply criticized a 2000 raid on "Pussy Palace", a lesbian bathhouse night. His calling the police "rogue cops" and "goons" and the operation a "panty raid" was criticized, and the officers alleged what was only a standard liquor inspection hurt their careers and reputations. A jury eventually decided that the seven officers were defamed and ordered Rae to pay $170,000. The settlement money was paid by the city from a fund which protects councillors from having to pay lawsuits from personal funds.
With the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2003, Rae married Mark Reid, his partner of nine years.
