A transgender biological male former prostitute is running for mayor of Hamilton, Ontario, and if that wasn’t crazy enough, recent campaign footage shows him giving his speeches using a sock puppet with googly eyes.
“Scarlett Gillespie,” who previously went by the name “Jelena Vermilion,” currently serves as the executive director of the Sex Workers’ Action Program (SWAP) Hamilton and has long advocated for sex workers’ rights, housing issues, and trans-related causes.
Gillespie received the YWCA Hamilton Women of Distinction Award in 2024 for his work.
He announced his candidacy for mayor earlier this year and is registered for the municipal election scheduled for October 26.
Gillespie’s campaign platform focuses on affordable housing, tenant protections, climate justice, greater transparency at City Hall, community-led safety initiatives, and strengthening the local arts sector, according to his website.
The candidate has described himself as a “community organizer” and “activist with lived experience” working directly with “marginalized groups.”
In a video from a campaign event on Sunday, shared by Libs of TikTok, Gillespie is at a microphone with a sock puppet in one hand.
Gillespie uses the puppet to help deliver portions of his speech, including a story about feeling disrespected.
WATCH:
Meet Scarlett Gillespie, a candidate for mayor in Hamilton, Ontario
He pretends to be a woman and uses a sock puppet his speeches
Canada is a circus pic.twitter.com/cJh14D0gyx
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 29, 2026
“Meet Scarlett Gillespie, a candidate for mayor in Hamilton, Ontario. He pretends to be a woman and uses a sock puppet in his speeches. Canada is a circus,” Libs of TikTok wrote in the post with the video.
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