Pride organizers in rural Nova Scotia say recent homophobic vandalism serves as a reminder that despite progress, for some it’s still not safe to be out in rural communities.
RCMP say the acts of vandalism in Liverpool, N.S., and Lawrencetown, N.S., are being investigated as criminal mischief that appears to have been motivated by prejudice or hate against people based on their sexual orientation.
Steve Ellis, the chair of Lunenburg Pride in the South Shore, says he was disturbed to see a Jan. 9 photo of the Liverpool visitor information centre with homophobic slurs and other hateful terms spray-painted on its rainbow-coloured front steps.
He says community demonstrations of queer pride are aimed at making LGBTQ+ people feel safe and welcome, and this incident is an attempt “to reverse that.”
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Ellis says the hate-motivated vandalism shows that while progress has been made in the South Shore region, including the success of the first Lunenburg Pride Week last summer, more work needs to be done to tackle homophobia.
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In December, a Pride flag hanging on a new general store in Lawrencetown, east of Halifax, was torn down four times and each time the flag was replaced by the married queer couple that own the store.
The last time, on Christmas Eve, the newest flag was ripped down and defecated on.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2023.
