Police are investigating after someone vandalized a newly-painted Pride crosswalk at a Richmond, B.C., with anti-LGBTQ2 slurs multiple times in one week.
The rainbow crosswalk was first installed at R.C. Palmer Secondary School on Tuesday, Aug. 1, and was vandalized that night. School district staff repainted it Wednesday, only for it to be vandalized twice more.
The district once again repainted the crosswalk and posted security from dawn until dusk, but district chair Debbie Tablotney said the vandals managed to return and damage the crosswalk once again late Sunday before the guard signed on.
“The language was pretty vulgar and it was targeted,” she said of the homophobic graffiti. “We want welcoming space for everyone to enjoy our schools, and this was like a kick in the teeth.”
Tablotney said the messaging was particularly demoralizing, coming as it did as the city wrapped its pride celebrations.
She said the district is working with the RCMP, and is hopeful security video may have captured the perpetrator.
The cost of paint, security and labour to repair the crosswalk, she said, have begun to add up and weigh on the district’s limited resources.
Tablotney said there are similar crosswalks at at least four Richmond schools, at least one of which has been targeted by bigoted graffiti in the past.
But she said the crosswalks were installed at the request of students, and that administrators have no intention of giving in to the hateful vandals.
“This is something they want, its something they advocated for, so we’re committed to providing it. This has to stop. The crosswalk isn’t going to go anywhere. It will remain and we’ll continue to do more. Because we’re committed to those values, of having a safe, inclusive community.”
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