RAINBOW support
Downtown Lethbridge businesses showing support for LGBTQ+ community with mini rainbow hearts painted in front of their businesses
After recent acts of vandalism directed towards the LGBTQ+ community, some Lethbridge business owners are trying to drown out the hate with visible signs of love.
Mini rainbow hearts began popping up around the streets of Lethbridge a few days ago. The painted hearts have been spotted on the road in front of several downtown businesses.
Organizers say the idea for “Rainbow Hearts of Downtown” was born to counter one act of hate with multiple acts of love.
On June 14, the recently painted rainbow flag crosswalk at 6 Street and 3 Avenue South was vandalized with black paint. Police continue to investigate the incident as hate-motivated mischief.
A few days earlier, the Lethbridge Pride Fest Society reported multiple skid marks across both the rainbow and the transgender flag crosswalks. And on Monday, the Taber Equality Alliance reported its Pride flag was stolen from the flag pole behind the Town’s administration building.
When Steven Foord, coowner of the Owl Acoustic Lounge, heard about the crosswalk vandalism on social media, he couldn’t sleep. He decided he wanted to do something about it and got together with Loralee Edwards, owner of Drunken Sailor, to devise a plan. They began speaking with other local businesses and it grew from there. Edwards said the sentiment from everyone was the same, that they all wanted to do something.
“That’s what there is... more than the hate is people wanting right away, ‘how can we show our love?’”
Together the businesses decided they wanted to do something visibly symbolic to show their love, support and solidarity in a peaceful protest, not only for the LGBTQ+ community, but for everyone. And to show the rest of the world that “there’s really good people here that really care.”
“What happened with the rainbow crosswalk downtown was essentially an attack on all the decent people in this city,” said Foord. “Anyone that was looking at our city from outside, what did they think of us after that?”
It is also important to note that their actions were done without the knowledge of the Lethbridge Pride Fest Society, said Edwards. They consider their act as “a gift to Pride Fest and the community in acknowledgement of their tireless work to create an inclusive community.”
However, Foord admits, they didn’t seek permission from the City of Lethbridge before painting about 10 hearts in front of consenting businesses. A representative from the City contacted them on Tuesday and asked them to remind everyone, “that it is not allowed for businesses and citizens to paint anything within the road right-of-way as it may lead to concerns on safety of everyone including the road users.”
All of the hearts were painted in areas where there is no regular traffic, said Foord, such as within parking spaces. If any more are done, it will be on private not public property, he said. And should the City request, they will clean up or cover the hearts themselves after Pride Week is over, at no cost to the taxpayer.
There hasn’t been a request from the City to do that as of yet, said Edwards. And, “there is always sidewalk chalk, so we can always have hearts everywhere people walk.”
There are many different ways downtown businesses have shown their support beyond the painted hearts, from donating sales of services, to rainbow roses and coloured macarons.
“So I think this was just another really visible way that we wanted to do that,” said Edwards. “But our community does come together. It’s a cool community.”