MINTO ‒ One Pride wants council to "put their money where their mouth is" by supporting more permanent ways to protect Pride decorations from the vandalism they face every June.
During a regular council meeting Tuesday afternoon, the Minto Pride Committee submitted a letter asking council to assist with an investment in annual Pride banners.
Making it more difficult for decorations to be vandalized or destroyed, the group also argued that the banners have a longer life span, are more environmentally sustainable and are cost-effective.
"We understand that in many cases (the vandalism) is out of the town's control, however, showing our community that this matters to you is important and will have an effect," said the letter. "Imagine being a teenager who identifies within the community and seeing the pride decorations there one day, and gone the next. What type of messaging do you think this sends to those youth and other members of our community? We can assure you it is not a positive one."
One member of Minto Pride, Brayden Scott, said the proposal idea came after discussions for more permanent ways to preserve their Pride decorations every year.
Fergus and Elora are two nearby towns that currently have Pride banners during June.
“The idea for a banner ultimately came from the committee feeling a collective frustration that our decorations are going missing or getting damaged,” said Scott. “ As much as we love wrapping the polls…we can't keep up with constantly having to put our decorations up again and again.”
A volunteer-based committee, Scott said the vandalism annually impacts its budget despite assistance from businesses and community members.
In one instance, signs with the statement: “Minto, where your Pride belongs” were removed from the main signs entering the town. At $20 a piece, Scott said community members rarely replaced them for fear they would just be stolen again.
“We're happy to (put the decorations up) once to have that visual impact, we know how great it makes our towns look and we love it,” said Scott. “But it’s disheartening, it’s sad, that we even have to go and take these measures.”
On the first day of Pride month this year, the committee woke up to a message that the rainbow crosswalk in Harriston had a big black X spray painted through it. While the community was quick to help Minto Pride clean, it permanently damaged aspects of the display.
Threatening messages are also “consistently” made through social media outlets when the committee tries to promote Pride-related events or activities that specifically target vandalizing and removing all Pride decorations.
“We put up banners for Canada Day and Remembrance Day and all these other kinds of short-term days and they aren’t damaged,” said Scott. “I'm sure there's other town vandalism that goes on, spray painting or whatever, but not targeted kind of hate crimes as we see during Pride month.”
While Minto Pride appreciates the support they’ve received from council, the letter is their way of asking them to “put their money where their mouth is” and become “a little bit more actively involved” in protecting their 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
“Fight back, put out a personal statement, invest in banners- really show that we as a community are invested in this and it's not going away,” said Scott. “(I want to see council say) they’re focusing on looking for these targeted repeat acts and respond accordingly as opposed to sweeping them under the rug.”
Minto Pride asked for a banner a few years ago but was turned down by the previous council due to the cost associated with installation.
“Regardless of the hate that’s targeted towards us, we want Minto to be a safe, inclusive space,” said Scott. “If that's something that we're preaching, then it really is something that we need to stand behind as well regardless of what your personal beliefs might be.
The issue returns to council in August.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
