Hate crimes prevention unit investigating after Calgary man verbally abused near Pride walk

The Calgary police are investigating an incident where a Calgary man was verbally abused as he was looking at the Pride sidewalk near Central Memorial Park downtown.

The Calgary police are investigating an incident where a Calgary man was verbally abused as he was looking at the Pride sidewalk near Central Memorial Park downtown.

Ryan Massel, who calls himself Mr. Fabulous on social media, posted a video on his X (formerly Twitter) feed featuring a man who called Massel "a f-in f-got" who's "not human."

"There's only two genders," added the man, who walked away briskly as Massel videotaped his rant.

Massel said the man initially made a comment about the private funding for the installation of the Pride sidewalk and when Massel said he supported the initiative, things escalated and the man hurled homophobic and transphobic slurs at him, he said.

"Today, I was a victim of hate speech in Calgary," Massel wrote on social media. "I was excited to hear of a Pride Walk that was being painted so went to take a look and the verbal attack ensued.

Massel posted a video of the verbal attack in order to share with viewers what was said, so they could understand just how bad it was.

"He didn't want to fight. He wanted to dehumanize me, and he wanted to try to dehumanize the community and people that weren't who he is," Massel told CTV News.