Only hours after the Town of Gibsons raised its rainbow flag at Pioneer Park to celebrate Pride Month, it was cut off its pole.
On June 1 at about 2:30 p.m., RCMP responded to a call that a man was seen cutting down the flag from the flagpole. A 48-year-old Gibsons resident was arrested after he was located nearby, and charges have been recommended for mischief and public intoxication, said Sunshine Coast RCMP Const. Karen Whitby.
The suspect told the arresting officer he had objected to the Canadian flag being removed from the flagpole because “the Canada flag should always be there and if there are other flags, they’re secondary,” said Whitby.
The suspect was released on an undertaking for court and the file remains under investigation.
The Pioneer Park flagpole rigging was damaged in the process, so the flag was moved to the Town Hall, where it was flying the next day after being repaired, said communications coordinator Elizabeth Quayle.
Gibsons Mayor Bill Beamish said he was “very disappointed that this happened at the beginning of Pride Month in Gibsons,” in an email to Coast Reporter.
“I understand that this was an individual act of vandalism and I do not believe that it reflects the views of our community and certainly not of our council.”
Beamish said he supports charges and is willing to consider “participating with him in a restorative justice circle if the opportunity arises.”
Flags at schools
Meanwhile, for the first time, rainbow flags are flying at every school on the Sunshine Coast to celebrate Pride Month.
“We are very excited,” wrote School District No. 46 (SD46) superintendent Patrick Bocking in a letter to parents and staff June 1. “When you see the flags flying proudly you will know that you are a treasured part of our learning community exactly the way you are.”
SD46 is one of the first districts in the province to adopt a sexual orientation policy, which it did in 2013, according to Bocking. That policy was followed by a sexual orientation and gender identity regulation, “to ensure that each of our students and staff feels truly welcome, included and treated with respect and dignity,” Bocking wrote.
“When every student and staff member feels safe and supported in healthy school cultures, they have greater academic and work success and better social well-being.”
The district’s regulation upholds Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI), an initiative created with the BC Ministry of Education and BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils to prevent discrimination in schools.
