Ladner church ‘love bombed’ after Pride flags target of vandalism
Posted June 1, 2023 12:03 pm.
Last Updated June 1, 2023 4:31 pm.
A church in Ladner is searching for someone who “love-bombed” its front yard after the Pride flags and colours it had displayed were the targets of an apparent hate crime.
According to its Facebook page, Ladner United Church had black paint thrown at a window and a door that donned Progress Pride and Pride flags on Wednesday — one day before the official start of Pride Month.
“Vandalism won’t change our stand – we support all people, because we are all children of a loving God,” a post from the church said, along with photos of the mischief.
On Thursday, the church provided an update, posting a picture of rainbow-coloured letters reading “love wins” that were staked in front of the building.
“We enjoyed coming to work this morning to see we were love bombed while away! A stark contrast to yesterday morning… THANK YOU for this, whoever you are!” the church wrote, asking whoever was responsible for the act of kindness to reach out.
“It brought joy, smiles and gratitude for this wonderful community we live in.”
The Delta Police Department has confirmed to CityNews that it is aware of the incident and will be investigating it as a hate crime, along with mischief.
“It’s very clear just by the mechanism of the paint and the location of the paint that the… flags were the target of the mischief,” explained Acting Insp. James Sandberg. “So with that, we have an offence of mischief, and a hate crime here.”
Sandberg says there have not yet been any suspects identified.
‘We’re not going to stop’: church will continue to display colours
It’s not the first time the Ladner United Church has been the target of mischief for displaying Pride colours.
In 2019, rainbow flags hung in front of the building were defaced twice in a matter of weeks. The defacing even drew the attention of the Prime Minster’s office, which offered a message of support for the church.
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John Clement, chair of the church’s leadership council, says there was another incident after the 2019 defacements in which a Pride flag was torn from a flagpole. He tells CityNews despite the repeated attempts to vandalize Pride symbols, the church will not stop displaying them.
“It’s just a part of who we are,” he said. “It’s happened before and it’s probably going to happen again.”
He says the church has flown the Pride flag for the past six years and will continue to do so.
“We’re not going to stop,” he said, adding displaying the flag is “the right thing to do.”
Recognizing that it likely won’t be the last time someone targets the church, Clement has a message for those who disagree with the church’s stance.
“We have no problem with anybody who doesn’t agree with us for theological or social reasons, but we far prefer you make it public,” he explained.
“You can come by and talk to us, we can debate it … no problem. It’s the secrecy by night, balaclava masks, vandalism that is dismaying. The fact that not everybody agrees with us is obvious, it doesn’t bother us.”
