“Know that your friends outnumber the haters by millions, and I am one of those friends.”
An Edmonton man whose Valentine's Day was marred by a co-worker's homophobic insult now has a few more friends to count on, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Degas Sikorski shared photos on his Facebook account showing a card Trudeau and his local MP had sent him.
"So much love, it's amazing to know I have their support," he wrote.
Sikorski was working at a party supply store in February when he received a handmade Valentine that was defaced with the word "faggot" under his name. "You are not getting shifts for a reason," the co-worker had written.
Sikorski's mother, Shelley, posted a photo of the insult on her Facebook page, where it was shared thousands of times and caught the attention of Edmonton Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault.
Shelley Bramhoff Sikorski / Facebook
On Saturday, Boissonnault gave Sikorski a folder that included photos and letters of support from himself, Trudeau, and other MPs in Parliament.
Degas Sikorski / Via facebook.com
"Know that your friends outnumber the haters by the millions, and I am one of those friends," Trudeau wrote in the card.
Boissonnault told CBC News that he also was bullied as a gay man growing up in Alberta, and wanted to show Sikorski he wasn't alone.
"I explained what was going on to the prime minister and he said, 'well, that doesn't sound very nice, let's write this young man a message.' So we went into his office and he signed a beautiful message to Degas," Boissonnault said.
Sikorski told the Canadian Press he was grateful for the kind gesture.
“It was a beautiful card,” Sikorski said. “There were so many pictures and so many people wanted to sign it, they had to add extra pages.”
Degas Sikorski / Facebook / Via facebook.com