Ladner United Church’s lovingly repaired, message-adorned Pride flag has been vandalized again, making this the third Pride flag-defacing the church has seen since these flags went up in 2019.
The damage was originally spotted Monday night, with the entire violet stripe at the bottom of the flag missing and the tattered remains of the blue stripe blowing in the breeze.
And to a Ladner resident who is part of a same-sex family themselves and lives close by, the message behind the anti-LGBTQ+ incident is not only clear, but frightening.
“I feel like I’m not safe. Some people are really feeling strongly against our family, so even if it’s not personal, it’s still making me personally feel unsafe. And it’s just tiring … It’s very tiring to see that [homophobes], they’re still in the community,” they told the Optimist.
The resident, who would like to remain anonymous for safety purposes, wishes that folks would continue to have ongoing conversations about inclusivity, safety and allyship – not just strictly after something bad has happened.
However, they are encouraged by the outpouring of support on a Ladner’s Landing Facebook post that went up Tuesday evening with photos of the damaged flag.
So far, the post has garnered nearly 100 likes and over 30 supportive comments.
Ladner United Church’s Minister Lydia Ruenzel said that when Delta Police officers came to investigate, they did suspect it was vandalism as opposed to other potential causes like the wind.
“The best guess is that maybe somebody jumped up and grabbed it,” said Ruenzel.
This recently-vandalized Pride Flag is actually the first one that Ladner United hung up back in 2019, and it was originally defaced with a big splotch of black paint in the centre of it.
Following the defacing of their second Pride flag a mere 12 days after the first incident, Ladner United switched back to the first flag, but stitched a big red heart over top of the paint splotch and had community members write supportive messages all over it.
“It’s one of those things that, it’s both a shock and not a shock at the same time,” said Ruenzel.
Going forward, Ladner United has ordered another Pride flag and plan on placing it higher up and hopefully out of reach so that these incidents don’t keep happening.
“It’s really hard to see such a visible sign of the hate and anger some still have towards Pride. We know that’s not the heart of Delta, and we hope the LGBTQ+ community can feel the love and support of all of us around them,” added Ruenzel.
