A Lower Mainland church has again had it鈥檚 Pride flag vandalized, the second time in less than two weeks.
Delta鈥檚 Ladner United Church posted a photo of the defaced flag to its Facebook page on Saturday afternoon (June 15). It鈥檚 the second time in 12 days the someone has vandalized the church鈥檚 flag, the first occurring on June 3.
In both cases, the flag was marked with what appeared to be black spray paint.
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鈥淭welve days after our #Pride flag was defaced, and one week after we installed its replacement, our flag has been defaced again. This is not simple vandalism, but a clear message and intentional criminal act,鈥� the church posted on Facebook.
鈥淟et us be clear in our response: we will not be deterred in living out the love of Christ in word and deed in our community. We are not afraid or ashamed. We encircle our #LGBTQ+ church members, family, friends, and neighbours with love and solidarity.鈥�
The June 3 vandalism sparked outrage on social media and the City of Delta and the Delta School District raised Pride flags outside their respective offices on June 5 in response to the incident, as well as to recognize June as Pride month. The events marked the first time that either the city or the district had done so.
Mayor George Harvie took to Twitter Saturday evening to condemn this most recent act vandalism.
鈥淓xtremely upset & disappointed to hear that another Pride flag at Ladner United Church was defaced. This community will not tolerate such despicable acts. #DeltaBC stands in solidarity with Ladner United Church & the LGBTQ+ community. #PrideFlag.鈥�
Extremely upset & disappointed to hear that another Pride flag at Ladner United Church was defaced. This community will not tolerate such despicable acts. stands in solidarity with Ladner United Church & the LGBTQ+ community.
鈥� Office of Mayor George V. Harvie (@MayorofDelta)
In the comments below its Facebook post, Ladner United Church said most people in the community had either been supportive, expressed a 鈥渓ive and let live鈥� attitude or kept their opinions to themselves about the vandalism.
鈥淭his is the first time since we鈥檝e been flying our Pride flag (since we moved back into our restored/renovated building in 2014) that someone has taken an outright destructive action like this at our church 鈥� thankfully very rare.鈥�
In thanking commenters who offered to provide the church with a new Pride flag, Ladner United said it will be determining what the church鈥檚 鈥渟pecific next steps will be鈥� at a leadership Council meeting later this week.
鈥淓ither way we鈥檒l keep having a flag up this Pride month,鈥� the church said.
In the meantime, Ladner United Church encouraged residents to 鈥渢ake action鈥� by supporting the upcoming Delta Pride Picnic on Aug. 31 鈥� either by donating, attending, or sharing and promoting the event, by writing to mayor and council to let them know it鈥檚 important that Delta is a safe and inclusive place for all residents and that they should take tangible actions to reflect that, and/or by donating to the church to help support the work it does in the community.
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