BC Liberal Leadership candidate Aaron Gunn says he would welcome anti-2SLGBTQ+ candidate Laurie Throness back into the party, said the NDP on Wednesday.

“Yes. I believe in being tolerant and accepting of those with socially conservative views,” Gunn said on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, Kevin Falcon avoided the same question but committed to protecting what he calls the “Christian community” who “may have beliefs that may not be the most popular thing.” (May 18)

The NDP pointed out that Falcon and Gunn both emphasize the importance of the party’s “big tent” that has traditionally included homophobic, transphobic, and anti-abortion views.

Throness resigned from the BC Liberal Party after he compared free contraception to eugenics. Throness holds homophobic, transphobic views, and has supported the abusive practice of conversion therapy on 2SLGBTQ+ kids, said the NDP.

Gunn holds similar discriminatory views. He was asked on Wednesday about a past Facebook post saying UBC was trying to “indoctrinate the next generation” by teaching medical students to respect their patients’ gender identities. Gunn doubled down and said UBC’s policy is “the kind of garbage political correctness that people roll their eyes at.” (October 13)

Other BC Liberal candidates have refused to say whether candidates like Throness and Margaret Kunst (who opposed rainbow crosswalks) would be allowed to run under their leadership, noted the NDP.