Rainbow crosswalk in Grand Falls-Windsor vandalized, says deputy mayor
Mike Browne says truck driver deliberately 'smoked his tires' on crosswalk outside town hall
Grand Falls-Windsor's town council is disappointed with what they're calling an act of vandalism to a rainbow crosswalk outside town hall.
The incident occurred over the weekend, only days after the crosswalk had been painted on Thursday.
Deputy Mayor Mike Browne told CBC News the entire event was caught on camera.
"It was a pickup truck who stopped directly on the Pride sidewalk and smoked his tires," Browne said.
"We do have surveillance video in different locations around the town to protect our assets, of course."
Browne said damage to the crosswalk is minimal, but the symbol itself is important to represent Pride, Pride Week and Pride Month, not only in Grand Falls-Windsor but across Canada.
He says it's not clear what the perpetrator's intentions were, but he's asking the public to think before they act as to fully understand who they might be hurting in acts like this.
The town's municipal police are reviewing the camera footage, according to Browne, to determine the owner of the vehicle and decide on a course of action, which could include fines.
Browne said he believes it's an isolated incident, and that the majority of residents understand the importance of Pride Week.
"Pride is an important movement in Grand Falls-Windsor and we support it as a council. I know the community supports it too," he said.
"Grand Falls-Windsor is an inclusive community, and to know there are individuals out there that maybe don't feel that we should be inclusive is disappointing. I think education would be the route to go, at least in this particular case."
Pride committee
Kim McDonald-Wilkes of the Grand Falls-Windsor Pride committee says the group tries to have a positive role within the community, but she believes the damage, which she calls a form of bullying, was likely done deliberately.
"We truly hope that the individuals who would do this would just eventually tire out, stop and move on," she said.
"The crosswalk, to me anyway, is to show how inclusive the community is, how diverse we are and how welcoming we are to everybody. I think it even goes beyond Pride."
The message sent by the vandalism is that the LGBTQ community is not welcome in the town, McDonald-Wilkes said. As a mother of someone within that community, she said, it feels like the perpetrators are saying her child is not welcome there.
While there has been more acceptance of the LGBTQ community over the last decade, said McDonald-Wilkes, this is the second year somebody has vandalized a rainbow crosswalk painted by the town, showing there's still a long way to go.
"It's committees like us, and general citizens supporting us, that are going to help create those changes," she said.
With files from Garrett Barry