Homophobic slurs painted on rainbow crosswalk at Colwood school

A newly-painted rainbow crosswalk at a high school in Greater Victoria, B.C., was defaced with homophobic slurs on Sunday, just one day ahead of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

Students at Royal Bay Secondary School in Colwood had painted the crosswalk only three days ago as a symbol of pride for the LGBTQ community.

Sooke School District Board chair Ravi Parmar said he was heartbroken to hear about the homophobic graffiti. 

"To anyone out there, if you need to go out and express your hatred, don't do that, don't ruin the love and teamwork and collaboration," Parmar said.

'There's still hate in our community'

Colwood Mayor Rob Martin said the incident is a reminder of how the community still has work to do when it comes to inclusiveness.

"It really resonates with me about how important and how symbolically important a rainbow crosswalk is," Martin said. 

"Clearly there's still fear and there's still hate in our community, and this reinforces how we need to continue to grow."

Students returned to school on Sunday to repaint the crosswalk so those coming to class on Monday wouldn't have to see the homophobic slurs. 

Oskar Wood, one of the students who had helped to paint the crosswalk three days ago, said he didn't feel like there was any representation for him as a queer young man when he had previously toured the school in Grade 8. 

"I was scared to be who I was," Wood said. 

Westshore RCMP didn't respond to requests for comment. It's unclear if a suspect has been identified.