“I have no words to shame, now I feel the prejudices, the ideas and the language which I have used homosexuals, Jews, Sunnis, Somalis or other groups of people,” wrote Al-Taee of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) on his website on Monday.

“I come from a very conservative background where attitudes, such as gender roles and sexual minorities, are far from what I think now. In my growth environment, homosexuality was a taboo that had no words to deal with,” he continued. “In my friends’ circle, one way to deal with this fear was also disdainful speech. As a student in Britain I became acquainted with a homosexual teacher, I was confused in a way that now seems crazy.”

The Finnish elections were held on April 14 with SDP winning the most seats.