Vandals target pride flags in Weston-super-Mare during pride month
Actions disrupt ceremonies and highlight ongoing intolerance
Pride flags in Weston-super-Mare have been vandalised during pride month.
Vandals cut ropes and damaged a mechanism on the town council’s flagpoles in Grove Park and the Italian Gardens, while a micropub on the High Street said its pride flags had been torn down.
The damage to the flagpoles, which was discovered on Thursday June 18, meant that the raising of flags for armed forces and emergency services day could not go ahead as planned.
Leader of Weston-super-Mare Town Council Ciaran Cronnelley said: “I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that it’s pride month and this vandalism has occurred. When people say ‘why do we need to celebrate pride any more,’ this targeted intolerance is a stark reminder of why we continue to celebrate pride — intolerance remains and it’s not going away any time soon.”
The Black Cat Micropub on the High Street by Grove Park was also targeted. A post on the pub’s Facebook page on Saturday June 20 said: “Somebody has ripped down and destroyed our pride flags overnight. It’s never been a problem in all the years we’ve been displaying them.”
The pub added: “The flags have been repaired, and are proudly flying again.”
A short-term fix to the flagpole in the Italian Gardens meant that the armed forces ceremonial flag raising event could still go ahead on Friday June 19, but the flag could only stay up temporarily. The pride flag in the Italian Gardens was raised on June 1 to mark the beginning of pride month, which is celebrated every year in June.
The flagpole in Grove Park will not be used for the foreseeable future due to the “significant” damage it suffered. Mr Cronnelley said: “To the individual(s) who cut these down and damaged the mechanisms – you may have hoped to have caused division, but I can guarantee you’ve achieved the opposite.”
Grove Park is the location of Weston Pride’s main event on Saturday June 27, the first pride event to be hosted in the town after a three year break. A pride parade will leave Princess Royal Square, Weston-super-Mare at 11.15 am on June 27 and process along Regent Street and the High Street to Grove Park.