Tanya St. Jacques and their partner are trying to figure out why someone – caught on a porch surveillance camera – would knock down a 2SLGBTQ rainbow flag from their home in the West End during a month of pride.
“A lot of people say we don’t need pride [month], now they have rights, they don’t need that, “said Tanya, who is not binary and bisexual.” There is still some hatred. That’s why we still need pride. “
Tanya said she and her daughter were home on Thursday around 11:30 a.m. when someone climbed the stairs of their home.
They heard a loud sound. By the time Tanya reached the door and looked outside, the flag was gone and there was no sign of anyone in the area.
They then checked their home surveillance camera, which overlooks the front steps. A video shows a man in light pants, a dark T-shirt, sunglasses and a baseball cap taking down the flag and taking it away.
“It was fast, but the violence in action was like, wow, this man has problems,” said Tanya, a civilian official at the Ministry of National Defense. “I did not believe that this did not happen at the moment. I was angry. “
WATCH A security camera shows that the Pride flag has been removed:
A security camera shows that the flag of pride has been lowered
Camera footage on the front porch of a home in the West End where Tanya St. Jacques and their partner live shows an unknown person knocking down a 2SLGBTQ flag on Thursday.
They said they were not only angry but also sad about their 13-year-old daughter.
“She started to feel uncomfortable and scared because she is also part of the LGBTQ community,” Tanya said.
“We had a great time [Pride] parade and she commented on how everyone looks so happy and everyone was so receptive, and now it’s happening. “
Tanya St. Jacques says their Pride rainbow flag was removed from the porch of their home in the West End on Thursday. They said CCTV footage from their porch captured the incident and was handed over to Winnipeg police. (Submitted by Tanya Saint-Jacques)
Tanya’s husband, Jeremy St. Jacques, rushed to work when he heard the news.
“There is no good reason for anyone to do that,” he said. – There is no good reason.
Jeremy said he reported the incident to the Winnipeg Police Department’s emergency department, which instructed him to send surveillance footage.
A spokesman for the Winnipeg police confirmed that they had received a report corresponding to what happened to St. Jacques.
West End resident and pastor Jamie Arpin-Ritchie says what happened to St. Jacques is similar to what happened to him during Month of Pride last year.
On the afternoon of June 18, he said the rainbow flag he and his wife had on their front porch had been stolen.
“Those who saw this happen informed me that the man was shouting insults at our house while forcibly demolishing it,” Arpin-Richie, a father of two, said in an email. “He did it in a space where our children often play. Our neighbor also lowered their flag the night before.”
He remained restless after the 2021 incident, but decided not to leave it unanswered.
“In the end, we decided to counter the hatred and fear with a more lasting solution: we painted our front gate in the colors of the Pride rainbow,” he said.
Jamie Arpin-Ritchie and his family painted their rainbow-colored fence last year after the Pride flag was stolen from their home. (Jamie Arpin-Richie)
Arpin-Ritchie runs an Anabaptist-inspired and Franciscan church in the West End called the Little Flowers Community.
A former CBC Manitoba Future 40 winner, Arpin-Ritchie is bisexual and offers pastoral support to 2SLGBTQ Christians.
He was criticized by some in the Christian community when he began to speak openly about his identity a few years ago.
He is also known to Tanya. The couple met in online queer spaces when Tanya was considering moving to the neighborhood and have been in a relationship ever since.
“The fact that this is happening again in the West End is discouraging because there is so much support from most of the community,” he said. “Yet it seems that those who would do this usually disagree, so they are encouraged.”
Tanya says they believe the response to hatred is more education for the general public, although they also feel supported.
When Tanya reported on the incident on social media on Thursday, they said several supporters had responded with plans to send a number of new rainbow flags to hang on their property.
“So I’m going to bomb the house with pride,” they said.
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