Gay flag on fire
Is the burning of the Pride flag a loath crime?
By Tag Walters, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology, University of Sussex.
Pride month is a celebration of all things LGBTQ+. Yet recently it has change into a source of division, both between LGBTQ+ communities and wider society, as well as between subgroups within the community itself. Of particular contention has been the use of a new(ish) “Progress Identity festival flag”, created in 2018 by US artist and designer Daniel Quasar. The Pride flag incorporates additional colours that represent minority ethnic group members, as well as those naming as trans and agender, while some versions of the flag also involve the symbol for intersex. For many, the flag is an important visibility of the struggles experienced and achievements gained by a section of culture that has been historically persecuted and which continues to experience discrimination as well as increasing numbers of hate crimes. Despite this, there has been some recent public debate over whether a
Video released of Midtown Identity festival flag vandalism, some teens identified
Pride flags vandalized in Midtown Atlanta
Atlanta Police state the city’s LGBTQ+ people may have been targeted overnight, Within the last few hours, investigators just released surveillance video and a 911 call from just after a team of Georgia teens allegedly vandalized pride flags in Midtown Atlanta. Police utter four teens have been arrested but they’re still looking for two more.
ATLANTA - Atlanta police tell they may be charging a group of teenagers accused of vandalizing multiple Pride flags in Midtown with a hate crime.
Authorities say the vandalism happened at around 1:40 a.m. Tuesday at Blake's On the Park on 10th Street near Piedmont Route during the last week of Pride Month.
What we know:
Authorities say the flags were hanging by the front of the lock near the city's Rainbow Crosswalks before the team of juveniles damaged them.
According to investigators, the organization took photos and videos of themselves cutting the flags up with a knife. Officials tell FOX 5 that the organization left the scene on scooters after police responded to reports of a disturbance. Four of the six wer
Fifteen years in Iowa jail for burning pride flag
He was arrested later that day, and told local media in a jail house interview that he was "guilty as charged".
"It was an honour to do that. It's a blessing from the Lord," he said, explaining that he did it because he "opposed homosexuality".
"I burned down their pride, plain and simple," he told KCCI-TV. The interview was entered into the trial as evidence against him.
Church pastor Eileen Gebbie, who identifies as gay female, says she agrees that Martinez' actions were motivated by hatred.
"I often experienced Ames as not organism as progressive as many people believe it is, and there still is a very large closeted queer community here," she told the Des Moines Register when he was convicted in November.
"But 12 people that I don't know, who have no investment in me or this congregation, said this man committed a crime, and it was a crime borne of bigotry and hatred."
Story County Attorney Jessica Reynolds said Martinez was the first person in the county's history to be convicted of a hate crime.
"The rigid reality is there are people who
The start of this year's Pride Month has been accompanied by groups of conservative commentators pushing endorse against the annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) reported a record spike in LGBTQ+ during 2023's Parade Month, with controversial figures such as influencer Andrew Tate this year sharing unfounded conspiratorial views as the event began.
One viral online post this week said a man got more than he bargained for while attempting to protest during the celebration this month, however, setting his house on flame as he tried to burn a rainbow flag.
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by The Halfway Post, shared on June 12, 2024, seen 9.2 million times said "BREAKING: A MAGA fan in Iowa accidentally burned down his house today trying to burn a gay pride flag."
The Facts
There have been several reports from across the region of advocation for and acts of burning rainbow flags related to Identity festival Month this year.
At the start of the month, the Colorado Republican Party caused uproar after sending an email that described members of the Homosexual community as "evil," "woke creeps" and "godless groomers."
The C
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