Publication date: Jul 12, 2022 • 6 hours ago • 2 min read • 13 comments Norwich Borough Mayor Larry Martin addresses citizens who attended a special meeting of the local council on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. Martin and his council colleagues were criticized for allowing a man to deliver a lengthy anti-LGBTQ rant at a recent meeting. Mike Hensen/The London Free Press

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NORWICH – An embattled rural mayor resisted calls for his resignation Tuesday as citizens criticized local politicians for letting a man accused of stealing Pride flags speak for nearly 30 minutes at a recent meeting, including comparing the Pride movement to the Nazis.

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Tuesday’s Norwich Borough Council meeting moved to a larger venue to accommodate the expected crowd of angry residents, the council gave the floor at a recent half-hour meeting to accused flag thief Jake Day. About 100 citizens participated and one person called for the resignation of Mayor Larry Martin. “Every single (politician) in front of me today is guilty of allowing this rotten hatred to be shared at a council meeting,” said Brian Kennedy, president of Norwich Citizens for Love and Acceptance. He had submitted a 400-signature petition to the council demanding Martin’s resignation. “You failed to do your job. Your responsibility is to protect what is best for everyone in the community. “Any one of you could have stepped in as elected officials and said this was unacceptable and stopped it.”

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Martin is mayor of Norwich Township, a rural community south-east of London, and also constable of the county of Oxford. On Tuesday he resisted calls to resign but said he “accepted” citizens’ concerns about the offensive comments, noting that he and the council “didn’t think it was a good idea” to let Dey speak but were told that, legally, he had to allow it. Susan Kalles addresses Norwich Township politicians at a public meeting held Tuesday, July 12, 2022, to allow citizens to speak about the local council’s decision to allow a lengthy anti-LGBTQ rant at a recent meeting. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press) It was, he added, a “very volatile meeting” that day. “I didn’t want to do anything to make the situation worse. My fear and concern was for the safety and well-being of the people gathered at the time.” A fellow council member, Lynne DePlancke, admitted at Tuesday’s meeting that “any one of us could have stopped” the anti-LGBQT uproar, but said: “Honestly, I was shocked.” He added: “Moving forward as a council, we need to take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Please give us some time in a special meeting to deal with this. And we will find the best way to move forward.”

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Dey, 47, of Tillsonburg, is charged with theft of a value less than $5,000 after several Pride flags were stolen or vandalized over several days in late May in Norwich, a community in Norwich Township. A 16-year-old from Norwich also faces theft charges On Tuesday, more than 100 people turned up to hear three delegations, whose speakers included 19-year-old Norwich resident Sydney van den Hook. She talked about her struggles with coming out to a religious community. “We need an ally ship in the community and we need support,” he said. Resident Lester Shelly also addressed the council, saying “misunderstanding and poor education” on key issues “divides everyone” in communities like theirs. Norwich Township, south of Woodstock, has a population of about 11,000. Politicians there and in all Ontario municipalities will be up for re-election in municipal elections this fall. [email protected] Twitter.com/HeatheratLFP

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