Trevor Preisel, the executive director at the New Castle Prism Initiative, said the LGBTQIA+ members of the center were upset by vandalism on their Pride flags.
The center is located at the Third Independent Presbyterian Church in New Castle, Pennsylvania, and is one of the only centers offering LGBTQIA+ support in the Shenango Valley area.
‘If people are doing things like this, if people are talking about you, it goes to show that what we’re doing is working.’
They were preparing for a Pride festival on Wednesday when they discovered the vandalism.
“People had torn down the progress flags and just thrown them on the ground on both sides,” said Preisel, who showed the destruction to WKBN-TV.
“There was also one in this general area, and someone had just completely stepped on and smashed the fence post, ripped the flag off, as well as down here, where those two flags are now. Those were just completely ripped off the rivets,” he added.
The center has replaced the flags and added surveillance cameras.
“We did feel targeted,” he added. “There was a police report that was filed.”
He went on to say the vandalism was evidence that they were making a difference in the community.
“Obviously, it does hurt in a sense, but to quote a lot of activists that have come before me, if people are doing things like this, if people are talking about you, it goes to show that what we’re doing is working, and what we’re doing is having an impact in this community,” Preisel added.
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The group posted images of the damage to social media and said the community responded through increased donations.
“We’ve had a lot of local businesses reaching out to us. We’ve had a lot of community members reaching out to us, a lot of people asking if they can donate toward putting new flags up,” Preisel added. “When things like this do happen, the community comes together.”
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