“This is deeply upsetting and we take this matter very seriously, as the second act of vandalism and hate to occur on Cabrillo’s campus within the past two weeks,” he says.
“This is my community, this is my district and this is one of the only places in the world that I feel safe.”Īccording to Cabrillo President Matt Wetstein, a student worker found the charred flag next to Building A on Saturday morning. “We see you, we hear you, we are here to protect you,” she said. Watsonville City Councilwoman Vanessa Quiroz-Carter, whose 2nd District covers the college, said the impromptu gathering sends a message to the county’s LGBTQ+ community. The flying of the new, larger flag came as a show of defiance for the vandalism, which destroyed the one that had been flying over the El Patio outdoor seating area. "Not a single one of them said ‘maybe don’t do that’.WATSONVILLE-A large group of people gathered in front of Cabrillo College’s Watsonville Campus Monday to watch as a new Pride flag was raised, two days after someone burned the rainbow flag that previously flew there. “That one was a bit more disturbing because he had been live on his message board describing his evening and what he was planning to do and how he was doing it and all the other people on the boards were totally ok with it. O’Neill said the man responsible for throwing the brick had been on a messaging board that day, describing what he was about to do. Recalling a second horrifying incident, O’Neill explained “At the last Pride - two years ago - we had something worse than this one, a guy threw a brick through the window while we had customers in there and he wrapped it up in tape and in poorly spelled English it said ‘fags out’ on it.” Speaking about the ongoing prejudice against the LGBTQ+ community, he said “We get a regular stream of nasty post, now not every day but it’s regular and always has been, and you definitely get more of it around times like pride, when there’s gay stuff in the ether.” O’Neill noted the kindness of the council who swiftly painted over the graffiti as well as the Etsy business next door that turned outside their office into a Pride shrine. “It said ‘pedo bar’, which is just so gross, so I was annoyed alright.” “We then turned up on Monday morning and there was big graffiti on the building next door which was owned by Etsy, the online store, and it was a bit gutting particularly because what they wrote was really disgusting.
He told O’Connor: “I was actually reluctant to share this because I don’t want to give these people the oxygen really, but it just particularly annoyed me this time because one, it’s pride, and two, we just had our opening weekend of the bar after 15 months, and we were all in such a great mood it was good. Yesterday morning, the famous drag queen and gay rights activist said he arrived at the bar on Monday to see it had been defaced with the term ‘pedo bar’ (sic). Speaking yesterday to RTE's Brendan O’Connor, Rory O’Neill AKA Panti Bliss - owner of the Panti Bar on Dublin’s Capel Street - recalled a couple of incidents that occurred there during Pride, and touched on the constant stream of cruel post being delivered there year-round. “Prejudice is obviously alive in #Ballon #Carlow disgusted by this! #cafedemode #Pride2021”Īs Pride Month comes to a close in the next few days, incidents like this aren’t few and far between, with many similar accounts reported around the country over the past few weeks. In a message posted to the Cafe de Mode Twitter account, the owners said: “It’s a sad Sunday when we arrive at work and find the remains of our #pride flag on the ground!
Owners of a Co Carlow bar arrived at work this morning to see that their pride flag, which was hanging outside, had been burned down.