Vandals cut down Pride flag at Edmonton secondary school
When neighbours in Trish Horobec’s Terwillegar neighbourhood were debating a Pride flag raised at a local high school, she wanted to see what it looked like in person.
When she got to Lillian Osborne High School around 2 p.m. on Saturday, she saw the Pride flag had been cut down.
“I spotted the Canadian flag blowing in the breeze and beside it was what clearly had been the Pride flag and the tattered remains,” she said. “Somebody had scaled the pole with a knife and cut it down.”
Horobec was upset to see the flag missing, but said she believes Canada is largely an inclusive place.
“Vandalizing property is not cool,” she said. “It upset me to see somebody would have gone to those kind of lengths to make any kind of statement.”
The Edmonton Police Service investigated. A sign nearby said the area is under video surveillance.
Edmonton-Whitemud NDP MLA Bob Turner donated a new Pride flag for the school.
Carrie Rosa, manager of communications with Edmonton Public Schools, said school staff and students were “disappointed” by the Pride flag’s removal. As far as she knew, the flag was raised Friday and cut down sometime on Saturday.
Students plan to rally this week and raise a new flag, she said.
“They have another flag they’re going to display in the school, and a number of activities planned for this week,” she said. “We don’t want this to be super negative, they’re just going to do their best to continue on with the activities they already had planned.”
Meanwhile, Cody Johnston, a Wildrose Party member, encountered homophobia when he invited fellow party members to support him at a Pride Run. Johnston ran the five-kilometre event at the Edmonton Pride Run and Walk, which supports the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies.
In a since-deleted Facebook post, Johnston shared homophobic emails sent in reply. Johnston said the invitation was approved before he sent the email out. After sharing his experience, Johnston said he has received support from the party and across Canada.
“It’s incredibly disheartening to have received these messages from Wildrose members about attending an event that is supposed to promote love and acceptance,” he said in a statement.
“In the past few hours, I have received many messages of support from Wildrose members, MLAs, and Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, and I thank them.
“I am confident that these hateful comments will be seriously addressed by the party, and I would personally expect the resignation of these members for the integrity of the party and all the good things Wildrose stands for.”