People in the city of Minto, Ontario, are supporting the local LGBTQ community after Pride decorations were cut and destroyed in acts of vandalism that police describe as hate crimes.
Between June 4 and 13, Pride flags at Listowel, Harriston, Drayton and Mapleton schools were torn down, cut and crushed, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
During this same period, Palmerston and Harriston streets were twice stripped of virtually all Pride decorations, Const. Joshua Cunningham told CBC News.
“The focus seemed to be the eradication, the complete elimination, of everyone,” Cunningham told Palmerston and Harriston.
Earlier this month, members of Minto Pride had wrapped strips of fabric around light standards running through the streets of Palmerston, Harriston and Clifford, the communities that make up Minto, a town of about 9,000 people.
In a surveillance video posted on Twitter by the OPP, a person can be seen climbing a flagpole “and manipulating, grabbing and ripping the flag,” Cunningham said. A photo distributed by police shows a rainbow flag broken on one side and cut into six pieces.
A rainbow flag was ripped off the stick and cut into six pieces, as shown in this photo from the Wellington County Ontario Provincial Police. (Submitted by OPP)
“It seemed like the goal was not to damage the flag, but to destroy it,” he said. “We are treating it as a hate crime.”
Message to young people
Caitlin Hall, one of the founding members of Minto Pride, said that Pride flags have disappeared in recent years, but there has never been anything of this scale.
“It goes beyond small acts of evil to something that was a little more worrying and offensive,” Hall said, adding that she is more concerned about the message being sent to young people who saw the Pride flags. demolished from outside their schools.
“I’m more concerned about children or young people who might be thinking about going out or who have recently left and may be beginning to feel that this was a safe place … to have this very visual reminder that:” Okay, they’re still people who have problems with me and who I am “.
Hall makes it clear that parts of his community are still “far behind in terms of being the loving, accepted and open community that we are trying to make Minto be,” he said.
But an outpouring of support at a Pride event on Sunday makes Hall and Minto Mayor George Bridge optimistic that vandals are a minority in the community.
The community replaces the decorations
“We had over 300 people, for a small town, at our Pride Picnic,” Bridge said. “In fact, we had a lot of people to support the event because of the previous vandalism; they thought it didn’t reflect the true nature of what the city is, and I really think so.”
“It was a great show of love and acceptance from the community,” Hall agreed.
Now, some of these community members and businesses are coming together to pay to replace the decorations, which were paid for by the Pride committee.
Most want to remain anonymous, Hall said, and are not looking for recognition, but are giving money to replace the rainbow fabric that was ripped from light standards.
On Friday, they will install new fabric bands to Palmerston and Harrison light standards, in solidarity with Minto Pride.
“It’s the business and the community that really come together and aren’t for it,” said Ron McTaggart, owner of Foodland in Palmerston.
“Right after it happened, we had companies that contacted ours [economic development staff] and say, ‘We’ll replace your stuff,’ “Bridge said.
“And that’s an example of what this community really is all about.”
Palmerston Foodland, Ontario, is one of several businesses that have teamed up with community members to replace the destroyed Pride decorations in Minto. (Submitted by Caitlin Hall)