SooToday.com received the following letter from faithful reader, Heather Zayachkowski, expressing concerns regarding a shirt worn by a participant (pictured) in this year's Rotaryfest Community Day Parade.

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What a beautiful day to watch the parade with my family, and what a great parade it was. The city and everyone involved should be very proud of it!

My kids left the parade exhausted and happy as punch as all kids should, but unfortunately my husband and I were left with a struggle to deal with as well.

It all came in the form of one person wearing one t-shirt, who marched with the Sault Pride group of people.

This person’s shirt read “Haters will be haters”.

I was first and foremost shocked to see that allowed by the parade directors, and then also hurt by it.

After the parade I questioned within myself who his shirt would be referring to.

My only answer would be people who oppose his lifestyle or points of view.

This I can only believe would refer mostly to the large section of Sault Ste Marie that follows the values of Judaism, Christianity, or is of the Muslim faith.

I am openly raising a Christian family in this city.

My Bible that I read is about loving others not judging, and certainly NOT about hating.

It states oh so clearly that we are all guilty under the law to begin with (yep... even me a Christian!) so why would I be out there hating others when I would end up hating myself.

But in this country I am allowed to oppose people’s beliefs that I don’t agree with.

This is not and has never been a form or act of hatred.

I don’t even have a problem with the Sault Pride People being in the parade - I even saw family friends who I respect in it.

Christians are allowed to give out Popsicles and water bottles with verses from the Bible to those who wish to accept them, and so other groups should be allowed to do likewise.

But messages of hatred should not ever be permitted from any party.

I am kind of dismayed and not alone in this.

So I humbly call upon the city to better monitor the parade in the years to come to insure that this doesn’t happen again.

I told my husband after the parade to just let it go and move on, but I guess I couldn’t.

Let’s make the parade a safe place, free of negative slogans or imagery of any kind, for the simple enjoyment of the kids of our beautiful diverse city.

Heather Zayachkowski

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Theodore's letter is great. I would love to see a follow up interview with Heather to understand why she thought the shirt was directed at membrs of faith communities. Did she really beiev this, or was she just looking for an excuse to slam the parade?

SooToday.com has received the letter below from a loyal reader who says he wore the much-discussed purple shirt in Saturday's parade.

His letter responds to another posted by SooToday.com as part of our Community Day coverage.

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A response to the shirt that offended Heather: I wore that shirt

First of all, I just want to apologize to Heather Zayachkowski for any hurtful comments that she received after practicing her right to freedom of speech.

I may not entirely side with Heather or condone her comments, but I do believe that living in a diverse community with people of different backgrounds can find common ground.

And, to think this was all over a t-shirt.

But my attire was in no means to inflict any harm whatsoever.

The shirt wasn't planned to provoke anyone or to be worn out of maliciousness of any kind.

I really was just looking for a shirt to add to my outfit.

I did not organize the Sault Pride Float; however, I did organize a group of eight individuals to honour the eight colours that were part of the original Pride flag.

The colour that I chose was purple.

It was a tank top that read "Haters Gonna Hate" and I chose it because it was suitable for the weather and it was the colour I needed to represent.

For me, it represents a sense of empowerment.

"Haters Gonna Hate" (for me) refers to anyone who has been faced with any type of adversity or conflict by someone (or a group of people) with contrasting views or opinions.

As an Aboriginal person who is openly gay, I am familiar when faced with adversity.

A lot of people’s blatant disrespect for my wellbeing as a gay youth made it difficult to coexist in the Sault.

The aftermath from being bullied included me becoming depressed, having thoughts of suicide and second guessing my life choices.

In the end, I dropped out of high school and joined the workforce.

It took me quite some time to realize that their remarks didn't matter, only because their beliefs didn't reflect my own.

I am the person who I am because I have worked hard to get over the hostilities and adversities that some members of society had to offer.

I am gay, but I am also a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend, a student, an artist, a dreamer and also a helper.

The treatment that Heather Zayachkoswki has received made me think about all the hurt that I went through as a teenager.

And it doesn't matter who you are or what you believe in, no one deserves to feel treated with disrespect or hatred.

We may have conflicting beliefs, but we still share living in this community.

Maybe we can find a way to discover balance and understanding for everyone.

In 2011, I enrolled at Sault College as a mature student in the Social Service Worker - Native Specialization Program.

This program has taught me the importance of understanding other people's points of view.

I have my own values that are dear to me, and I have walked a long hard path to understand who I am and what I can offer to the community.

It has taken a long time in order for me to get over all the hurt and become a successful and well accomplished individual.

But no matter who you are, where you’re from or what you believe in, there will always be someone who disagrees.

Life does get better, but you just need to work hard for it.

The rest of society needs to know that you cannot change a person's convictions or beliefs, but you can try and teach them to understand where you are coming from in order to bring a balance for yourself, your family and your community.

Whether people like it or not, we still need to live our lives together in this city.

In the world that is complete with so many other different people with different cultures, we can build bridges to acceptance for everyone.

For now, I will continue to accomplish my dreams and to do my part on creating a safer and more accepting world to live in.

- Theodore S. Syrette

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Yeah, Heather.  Because homosexuals never, ever have to deal with hatred from anyone.

Like Alex, I'm curious as to why she automatically connected that with people of Abrahamic faith.  Very curious.

It's a bit of an odd choice for the parade, IMO.  Why draw any attention to the negative on a day of celebration?  It was his choice to wear it though, and I don't see anything offensive about it.

I also agree that Heather made an odd connection.  If the shirt said "Christians gonna hate" (or Jews, Muslims) etc, then I think she would have a legitimate complaint.  Theodore still has the right to wear it though, and Heather has the right to complain.

I'm surprised it made such an impact on Heather, seeing as how she was unable to even quote the short (all of 3 words) correctly.

Why is this in church life?  Is Heather associated with the UCCan?

As a Rotarian (the event was part of Rotaryfest), I can say without equivocation that the shirt is completely opposed to anything that Rotary stands for. I hope the organizers will address this to ensure that it's not repeated. They should have asked the person to cover or remove the shirt. Christians giving out water bottles and popsicles with bible verses on them is also contra Rotary's own rules. Should not have happened.

Haters Gonna Hate.

It's a meme, and a familiar "well, whatcha gonna do--some people are like that" summary of what anyone who's different has experienced.

Shocked and appalled by a t-shirt?  Really? I take it "Gays against Israeli apartheid' wasn't marching.

DKS - I was about to go viral on you - Teddy's shirt was taken out of context...read his letter....but you can't compare to the responses his letter has received on the original site....and on facebook......sadly the debate continues...

Its interesting that we aren't considered a Christian church...according to some of the comments..

I don't see the connection with the church. I see the connection with a Rotary event and a whole bunch of things that should never have happened in the first place.