The ad shows Republican former City Councilman DeMaio and his partner Johnathan Hale walking
hand - in -
hand during a gay pride
parade, while a voiceover says DeMaio «believes in equality and diversity and is a defender of our personal freedoms.»
Vandals doused the Columbus statue's
hands in blood - red paint and scrawled the words «hate will not be tolerated» in September, and three demonstrators briefly interrupted a wreath - laying ceremony at the monument
during the city's massive Columbus Day
Parade in October.