Pride flag defaced at Ladner church
Posted June 3, 2019 12:25 pm.
Last Updated June 3, 2019 4:10 pm.
LADNER (NEWS 1130) – The staff at Ladner United Church have been left saddened by what appears to be a defacing of the pride flag it has hanging on the front of the building.
In a Facebook post on Monday morning, the church said the flag was spray painted with what appeared to be a black spot sometime Sunday night.
https://www.facebook.com/ladnerunitedchurch/photos/a.137512106897690/360624417919790/?type=3&theater
“I was kind of incredibly sad and disappointed, and I think it says to me that we all have a really long way to go in understanding this whole issue of being okay with diversity,” the church’s Reverend Jim Short says.
The church will not be deterred from supporting the LGBTQ+ community, he says, but admits it was difficult to see the pride flag spray painted.
“We all know that we all have fears and prejudices and sometimes, if they’re not examined and brought out into the light and held in healthy conversation and had good information shed upon them, it’s easy just to react in anger,” the Reverend says. “Looks like somebody saw the pride flag and didn’t like it.”
He says it shows that as a society we still have some way to go.
“A person’s sexual orientation or their gender in and of itself is not an issue. Everybody stands on the same playing field and that’s at the heart of who this church is, it’s at the heart of who I am. A little act of vandalism doesn’t deter us.”
The church has contacted Delta Police to report the vandalism, and plans to hang up a new flag.
