Editing Tony Halme (section)

==Political career==
Halme became a member of the [[Finns Party]] and entered parliament in the [[2003 Finnish parliamentary election|2003 parliamentary elections]] and during his parliamentary career, Halme raised controversies. The day after the elections, Halme referred to [[President of Finland|President]] [[Tarja Halonen]] as a lesbian in a radio interview. Halme stated that if a lesbian can be president of Finland and he can be a member of Parliament, anything seems possible. A huge uproar ensued as much of the Finnish media treated the statement as a personal attack on Halonen; Halonen herself made no comment. Halme later apologized, stating that he was sorry that the statement had been interpreted as an insult and that he had been under the genuine impression that Halonen was a lesbian.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ranneliike.net/artikkelit.php?alue=tapaushalme&juttu=erikoise&#93; |title=Ranneliike.net - Homokansan yhdistävä tekijä |access-date=December 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050508185131/http://ranneliike.net/artikkelit.php?alue=tapaushalme |archive-date=May 8, 2005 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Halme opted not to run for re-election in [[2007 Finnish parliamentary election|2007]] due to health issues.

Halme was also elected to the [[City Council of Helsinki]] in the [[2004 Finnish municipal elections|2004 municipal elections]], but announced he would not participate in the council's activities. His term officially ended in 2008.