A mother and her daughter, who identifies as non-binary lesbian, see the graffiti over a pride flag painted on the side sidewalk at a neighbourhood school. The two Regina residents, who wish to remain anonymous, say the vandalism at Thomson Community School is heartbreaking to see.
“As a mother of a child who belongs to this community, I’m terrified as she has to walk to work every day, and she has to walk by this,” the mother said. “I know she’s an adult, but I still feel like I have to protect her. And I’m scared.”
The mother said the vandals who painted the inappropriate remarks about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community might have a right to their beliefs, but she does not understand why people have to vandalize property that shows a community’s pride.
“I’m fighting for my child’s right to be who she is (and her) right to exist in this community that we’ve chosen to live in. This isn’t a choice for her. This is a way of life,” she said. “She has to go through this every single day… for her to have to see this every day, it’s not right.”
Thomson Community School is not the only school in Regina that has had to deal with vandalized school sidewalks. The sidewalk in front of Balfour Collegiate located on College Drive was vandalized with derogatory words.
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The crosswalk at École Harbour Landing School was also vandalized in late July with graffiti. Volunteers gathered on July 24 to paint over the graffiti.
Global News reached out to the Regina Public Schools for comment on the episodes of vandalism. In an email response, communication supervisor Terry Lazarou said they will not grant an interview on the matter at this time and noted that vandalism with hateful messages is a crime that is policed by the Regina Police Service (RPS).
“We are very grateful when the community, or the City step up and help repaint the work done by students and staff. Regina Public Schools does work to educate students and communities about why hate speech and hate vandalism is not appropriate,” Lazarou wrote.
“Both the school division and the school communities responded by working with the City of Regina to remove and repaint the hateful material and will continue to do so in the future as long as resources permit. We cannot control hate and ignorance, but we, as a school division and a society, can work to educate our neighbours to create understanding.”
The RPS said they don’t have data on how many schools in Regina have been subject this kind of vandalism, but they are aware of similar instances in the past.
“We are proud to be an inclusive police service and will continue to work to make our community safe for everyone who lives here,” RPS said in an email response. “Vandalism is considered public mischief and public mischief is a crime. Simply put — hate speech and hate-motivated vandalism are not welcome in this city.”
The City of Regina said it is also aware there have been acts of vandalism on pride crosswalks painted by organizations in the past and strongly discourages these acts of vandalism.
“When advised of an incident, the City will work with permittees to facilitate additional road closures at no charge, so that the applicants can remove graffiti or repaint the art as desired,” the city stated.
“The City does not proactively inspect street art locations for vandalism. However, the City will continue to work with organizations as requested to ensure that public spaces remain welcoming for 2SLGBTQIAP+ people.”
Earlier this month, the sidewalk at a high school in Indian Head, Sask. was vandalized with derogatory words and vulgar images on a painted pride flag. Members of the Saskatchewan RCMP and volunteers helped to repaint the sidewalk weeks before school begins.
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