Skip to content

Another homophobic vandalism incident in Airdrie

Airdrie’s pride community had to contend with yet another homophobic message July 25, after a shed located off Range Road 294 was vandalized with anti-LGBTQ graffiti.

Airdrie’s pride community had to contend with yet another homophobic message July 25, after a shed located off Range Road 294 was vandalized with anti-LGBTQ+ graffiti.

A small barn near the Airdrie sign just south of the city was painted with the message “LGBT Virus.” Motorists could see the sign as they headed north or south on Range Road 294 or while driving north on Highway 2.

“It’s disappointing to see it happen again, for sure,” said Airdrie Pride Society’s (APS) president, Kiersten Mohr. “It is that immediate worry about the community we support and anyone out there who absorbs that and struggles to see it once again. That’s always our first reaction.

“But like every other time, the response from the community was very swift. In this case, it was citizens of Airdrie who got together and said, ‘We’re going to change this and fix it,’ and it’s been amazing to see that.”

The day after the vandalism was discovered, Airdrie residents rallied together to paint over and alter the message. It now reads LGBTQ+ and includes a heart and a Black Lives Matter symbol.

“When I speak to people in the community, one of the things I find myself continuing to say is to focus on the reaction to these and not the actions,” Mohr said. “What’s going on is that every time one of these things happens, the strength of the community gets stronger and more and more people stand up to say, ‘This isn’t right’ and they jump into active ally mode.”

The vandalism was Airdrie’s third incident of homophobic vandalism in the last month, after APS’ rainbow pathway in Nose Creek Regional Park was targeted twice in late June. The pathway was first tarnished either June 21 or 22 with homophobic and racist messages, and then was tarred and feathered less than a week later.

After both instances, members of APS and local LGBTQ+ allies gathered to repaint the pathway. At the July 6 Airdrie city council meeting, council unanimously approved making the pathway a permanent fixture in the community.

Mayor Peter Brown said he noticed the most recent graffiti as he was driving back to Airdrie on the weekend. He added he was "disgusted" to see the homophobic message and that the vandals do not represent the city.

"It's truly pathetic and ignorant," he said. "Anyone who wants to spread hate around the community, it's not welcome and it's ridiculous.

"Obviously, we're an inclusive, welcoming community of diversity. We vastly outnumber those few people who want to spread hate."

Despite the repeated acts of vandalism, Mohr agreed with Brown that it's a very small minority in Airdrie that feels the same way as the vandals.

“What we’re seeing now is…what defines Airdrie is that the acceptance and inclusion truly within the city are becoming a lot more vocal," she said. There are a lot of people stepping up to challenge this and say 'this isn’t OK in my community, in my city.'”

Given the thought and level of effort that was put into the recent vandalism incidents, Mohr added she feels the acts were premeditated.

“That’s part of what’s challenging – to understand why someone would feel the need to do that against a community that is, at its heart, all about inclusion and acceptance,” Mohr said. “It’s certainly confusing why someone would put so much effort into this.”



Comments


No Facebook? No problem.

Here is how you can stay connected to the Airdrie City View and access local news in your community:

Bookmark our homepage for easy access to local news.
Pick up a copy of our newspaper and read local news that you cannot get elsewhere.
Sign up for our FREE newsletters to have local news & more delivered daily to your email inbox.
Download our mobile icon to have access to our news right at your fingertips.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks