I’m at home sick with the flu this week, and this article made me feel even more nauseous.
I didn’t plan on posting a Friday blog, but this can’t go without discussion…

“Real Estate Agent Under Fire For Anti Gay Brochure”
By: Victoria Ptashnick
Toronto Star
Thursday, May 2nd, 2013
A Mississauga real estate agent is under fire for distributing a brochure that promotes nuclear families and criticizes homosexuality.
Andrew Ciastek, a sales representative for RE/MAX, distributed the flyers — which said “traditional family is the best for the future of the kids” — to hundreds of homes in the Port Credit and Lorne Park neighbourhoods.
“I didn’t want to offend anybody . . . I didn’t have bad intentions,” Ciastek said.
But the brochures infuriated several residents, who filed complaints with RE/MAX, Peel Regional Police and the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
Jon McDonald, a retired teacher who lives in Lorne Park, said he was furious when he discovered the flyer that fell out of his newspaper Tuesday.
“My blood pressure went up 100 per cent. I read it and thought, ‘What does this have to do with selling houses?’ ” McDonald said.
The research cited in Ciastek’s flyer was conducted by Mark Regnerus, a Texas sociologist who said children of homosexual parents are more likely to be unemployed.
After reading the material, McDonald complained to RE/MAX, the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Peel police diversity unit.
Const. George Tudos said the Criminal Investigation Bureau looked into the incident and spoke to Ciastek about the impact of the literature. No charges will be laid, he said.
Christine Martysiewicz, director of internal and public relations for RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada, said “the views and opinions expressed in this piece do not reflect those of RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada or our agents.”
She said Ciastek will issue a public apology and make a donation to a local charity of the company’s choosing.
Ciastek also told the Star he will apologize “because I understand some people were very hurt. It is the right thing to apologize.”
Martysiewicz pointed out that Realtors are independent contractors and do their own marketing. She said there are internal policies governing marketing material, but “not with respect to choice of content.”
The flyer was not vetted by the broker-owner of the Mississauga office, “but it should have been,” she said. It also escaped inspection by the main office.
Martysiewicz said internal policies will be examined at a corporate level “to ensure that agent mailouts adhere to strict corporate guidelines.”
Well, maybe he thought this was a good use of “co-branding.”
Or maybe he’s trying to be “different” from the hoards of other Realtors out there!
Either way, this guy just hung himself.
His career is over, unless his target market is other bigots…
It’s amazing how some people lack logic and common sense, especially people who are part of the public eye, and who rely on the public for their business.
I’m not surprised that organized real estate won’t get involved in this mess. What are they going to do? Fine him? They don’t want anything to do with this.

Floom
at 1:34 pm
There has to be more to this story – perhaps this agent has suffered brain damage or lost a colossal bet or, tragically, is one of those rare cases of functioning adults who hide the fact that they never learned how to read – he may have thought the article was about something else entirely, if his helper monkey read it aloud to him.
Mooj
at 2:17 pm
He’s done at Remax
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/05/03/andrew-ciastek-remax-real_n_3209353.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-business
George
at 1:44 pm
I’m pretty tired of people saying, “I didn’t want to offend anybody…” and then proceeding to say something that it is designed primarily to offend somebody.
Chuck
at 11:15 pm
I remember years ago we designed a flyer with an image of a family similar to a young couple we were working with, without revealing their identity. We were seeing if anybody wanted to sell, before they were listed, and told a story of who the buyers were and what they wanted. Names were changed, but the story was true.
Turns out we got a few calls. But not for the right reasons.
The photo, which we found using Google image search, showed a husband with the wife and daughter that he murdered. I had no idea.
Insert foot in mouth. Honest error, and we sent out another flyer apologizing for the mistake.
Sounds like we got off easy! 🙂
Chris
at 3:51 pm
Where can I read the actual ad? I haven’t actually seen it yet.