The owner of a transgender flag with historical significance says they’re devastated after it was stolen from their Burnaby home this week.
The flag has been hanging in Leada Sray’s window since 2019, but has been in his possession since the early 2000s and has a special link to the flag’s creator.
Stray said he came home on Wednesday to find the flag missing.
“I saw the sliding window had been jammed sideways and the flag that had been hanging there had been ripped down and disappeared,” Stray said.
“The only people who were in the property in between the last time I saw the flag and when I discovered it missing were delivery drivers and Canada Post. I’m not certain if it was just a crime of opportunity or someone saw it, knew what it was and just decided they didn’t like to see it.”
Stray said security video showed the delivery people on the property but didn’t capture the moment someone pulled the flag down.
He said he didn’t report it to RCMP because he feels that without evidence police would be unwilling or unable to pursue the matter, and felt unsafe dealing with them as a transgender person.
The incident comes amid a rising tide of hate directed at the LGBTQ2 community in Canada and the United States.
Police-reported hate crimes based on sexual orientation rose nearly 60 per cent between 2019 and 2021 to the highest level in five years, Statistics Canada reported in December.
LGBTQ2 advocates in Canada have raised the alarm about a surge in online attacks, while angry protests have popped up at events such as all-ages drag queen storytimes.
“The first thought was honestly just a feeling of resignation. Anti-transgender hate crimes are on the rise both here in Canada and obviously down in the ‘States where they’re facing an actual genocide,” Stay said, referring to a slew of legislation passed in various states targeting transgender people.
“And then all the other emotions come into it, the anger, the fear, the confusion. For me, I’m just a person. But everyone seems to put my identity ahead of my personhood.”
Stray purchased the flag more than 20 years ago at Vancouver’s iconic Little Sister’s bookstore, a long-time hub of the LGBTQ2 community and queer activism.
He said former owner Jim Deva showed him the flag and recommended he buy it.
“At the time transgender pride flags were brand new, Monica Helms created the design in 1999, nobody up here had really heard of it. So Jim said to me, ‘hey you should buy this because it’s going to be one of the first ones.'”
Since he bought the flag, Stray has carried it with him around the world, and that it has grown in significance.
“It has seen historical advancements in trans and queer rights, and when I retired it in 2019, I took it to New York City and had it signed by its creator Monica Helms as sort of a final a symbol of its long life, and then put it up in my window.”
While Stray said he’s not involving police in the matter, he is asking for the flag’s return — no questions asked.
He’s also reached out to Amazon, UPS and Canada Post, asking them to send a message to drivers who were on the property asking for any information, including whether they saw the flag and what time they last saw it hanging.
He’s since bought a new flag and hung it in the same window, and told Global News the only way to fight back against hate is to keep being who he is.
“When we see a trans flag in a window we know we are not alone, so that’s why I put it up in the window so people could see they are not alone,” he said.
“They can take every flag I put up, it is not going to change who I am and it’s not going to change what I do.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Stray at transprideflagrecovery@gmail.com.