Tuesday, March 19, 2024

‘Hate has no place in our city’: Langford Pride banners vandalized within first 24 hours

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Langford was ready for Pride month to begin on June 1st and had city staff out on Goldstream Avenue to install this year’s Pride banners.

Unfortunately, within the first 24 hours of the city’s Pride banners being displayed along the arterial road, five were vandalized. 

Langford City Councillor Kimberly Guiry posted about the banners being vandalized on Twitter in the early evening of June 1st saying she was feeling both sad and angry that within such a short span of time, someone could do such a deplorable thing.

“I was incredibly saddened but honestly more furious to learn that 5 of our Langford banners were vandalized in the first 24 hours of being displayed,” Guiry said. 

“Hate has no place in our city.”

She continued her thread by speaking to the celebration of Pride as something that benefits the community as a whole.

“I think it’s worth repeating that visibility, inclusivity and celebration are not divisive,” wrote Guiry. “Frankly it’s a responsibility of community leaders to promote this narrative.” 

“I’m proud of the direction Langford is headed and to have such strong support from staff and council.”

After Guiry tweeted about the flag vandalism, the comments on her thread were mostly hate-filled and bigoted. The councillor made the decision to turn off comments after seeing such hateful remarks towards her and the LGBTQ2I+ community. 

“Folks, I’ve turned off the replies,” Guiry tweeted. “This is not a safe space for harmful comments.”

Victoria Buzz reached out to West Shore RCMP for details on the vandalism, but have not received a response as of this publication.

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Curtis Blandy
curtis@victoriabuzz.com

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