Toronto, May 30, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Prominently placed in the heart of Toronto is a more than life-size bronze statue of Alexander Wood, a long-forgotten city magistrate whose most distinguishing accomplishment seems to have been his rumoured sexual orientation.
The conspicuous bronze statue was unveiled this past May 28 at the corner of Church and Alexander, a section of the city which is well known for its high concentration of homosexuals.
Wood, a wealthy merchant and emigrant from Scotland, lived in York (now Toronto) in the early 1800s. He made his most significant mark upon history during a scandal surrounding a rape and its ensuing investigation. The victim of the rape reportedly told Wood that she had left distinguishing scratch marks on the genitalia of her assailant. Wood personally undertook the investigation of the male suspects, after which several of the suspects claimed that Wood had sexually assaulted them. Wood was forced to flee Toronto to his native Scotland to avoid possible charges of sodomy, although he later returned to York. Some alleged that Wood had actually made up the allegations of the rape.
A bronze plaque on the back of the statue depicts Wood examining the genitalia of one of the suspects.
Although no certain evidence exists to confirm Wood’s homosexuality, and despite the less than illustrious accusations of sexual assault brought against him, Toronto’s gay community is elevating him as an emblem of the early battle for gay-rights in Canada.
Wood himself never took any active steps to advance gay-rights, other than purportedly experiencing homosexual tendencies himself.
The descriptive plaque beneath the statue labels him as a ‘gay pioneer’.
JJ