Members of St. Aidan’s Anglican Church in London, Ont., say they won’t be deterred after a Pride display was vandalized over the weekend.
Canon Kevin George told Global News the church had recently started painting doors for Pride month as a part of a new initiative started by young members of St. Aidan’s last year, signifying that “God’s doors are open to all.”
“The Pride project includes six multicoloured doors and those were bracketed by a couple of steel doors, one of them with the Pride flag, the trans flag, the incorporated flag and the other an interfaith door,” he explained.
Sometime overnight between Saturday and Sunday, a door painted in honour of the Pride flag was spray-painted with profanity after being left out on display at the west London church the day before.
The message, which reads “f–k story time,” was referring to “drag queen story time,” an event that has recently sparked immense controversy.
“It’s pretty startling, to read such a vulgar and violent message about someone’s personhood,” George said, adding that this is not the first act of vandalism against the doors.
“A couple weeks ago, one of the wooden doors had been punched through and another looked like a projectile went through it,” he said. “Police came and looked at it (but) we’re unable to determine what exactly the projectile was.
“What’s disturbing is the increase and rise of homophobia and transphobia in our community, and the fact that we seem to be sliding backwards is of great concern.”
He said that following the recent act of vandalism, the church attempted to reach out to the London Police Service, but they were “dismissed.”
“We were basically told to go to the internet and fill out a form, which I was disappointed in,” George said. “I believe that acts of hatred like this should be important enough that a phone call to London Police Service warrants a call back and an investigation, especially since we had the police out here three weeks ago to investigate the projectile that had been put through the same door.”
In a statement to Global News, a spokesperson for the London Police Service said they have been made aware of the situation and “have been advised that it is currently being investigated.”
“I have a pretty open-door policy,” George said. “Our message to whomever did this is to come in and talk to me about why you’re so hurt. What is it that’s happening in your life that you feel this is a message you need to communicate? We’d love to learn more from you, and perhaps you can hear from some of our young people about why they feel so strongly about putting out a message of love, hope, healing and grace.”
In a post on social media, George wrote that following the vandalism, Sunday’s service would focus on “tearing down barriers.”
“I know that my own church, St. Aiden’s, has hurt the LGBTQ2+ community in the past but we stand as a community and I wanted to reiterate that on Sunday, as one which wants to take ownership and repent of that the ways we’ve done wrong in the past, and speak openly, honestly, and in a welcoming way to all people because we believe every person is created in an image of God and as such is beloved,” he said.
George said that following service, members spent some time Sunday afternoon repainting their doors in Pride colours, which will be on display throughout June.
“In many ways, it was a celebration of inclusivity,” he said. “We had already scheduled this Sunday as the day to repaint some of the doors and put them back in their place, but it was somehow healing to see all the children and young people out on the lawn after we had discovered what happened and after our church service, with all the colours of the rainbow painting beautiful doors, and letting the community around know that we won’t be deterred by anybody’s hatred or violence, but that our response to this will be love, compassion, healing and hope.”
He added that by the time he came out to see community members re-painting the doors, “they had flipped the vulgar message painted over it with a red heart.”
“We want to be a community that welcomes all.”