Pride flag stolen for third time from Souris yard

A Souris resident says there has been an outpouring of support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community after she spoke up on social media about having a pride flag stolen from her property.

Karen Kempe, who’s a founding member of the Souris Pride Committee, went outside with her dog early Tuesday morning to find her pride flag was missing and her flagpole had been damaged.

This is the third time a pride flag has been stolen from her yard in the last few years — the previous two flags were later found burned, she said.

“It seems to have been a premeditated thing because the flag had been zip-tied to the flagpole, not just clipped, so you would have needed to have clippers with you to remove the flag,” Kempe said.

She posted a video on a Facebook page Tuesday morning to explain what happened and urged community members to consider how it would make them feel if someone had stolen their property.

“We need to get back to this idea that we’re all human beings and we’re all sharing this world, so how do we want other people to treat us?” she said.

The latest incident made Kempe feel tired, frustrated and violated. She’s contemplating putting up security cameras to deter a thief from stealing her pride flag in the future.

Kempe has filed police reports for the previous incidents, and she’ll likely do it again.

This incident comes months after a crosswalk painted with the colours of the pride flag at the intersection of First Street South and Crescent Avenue West in Souris was vandalized.

Someone used white paint to cover the crosswalk on Halloween night and left behind a paint roller.

Community members chose to address the anti-2SLGBTQ+ act of vandalism with love, Kempe said, adding that the mayor took it upon himself to pressure-wash the white paint off the crosswalk.

“I know that people have been drawn to Souris because we have the pride crosswalk, because they see people freely flying a pride flag,” she said.

When incidents like this happen, Kempe said people rally together to provide support, including words of encouragement to people belonging to the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

Kempe said she received a message on social media from someone telling her they had dropped off a new pride flag on her porch to show their solidarity.

Kempe and her partner fly pride flags as allies aiming to let others know they’re in a safe space.

The new flag, which she put up Wednesday morning, has the hashtag #LOVEWINS written across it.

Duane Davison, the mayor of the Municipality of Souris-Glenwood, said it was disappointing to learn of another act of “blatant vandalism” targeting 2SLGBTQ+ people.

“I’m tired of the lack of respect of certain individuals in our community … It’s not who we are collectively as a community. It’s not certainly who we are as a society either,” he said.

The municipality prides itself on being a friendly, welcoming and safe place that is respectful toward others, but there’s a small number of people who “can’t understand that,” he said.

Davison said incidents involving anti-2SLGBTQ+ rhetoric and acts of vandalism are infrequent in Souris, but each instance is still disconcerting.

“It’s not something we’re willing to tolerate, and it’s certainly not anything we would condone,” he said.

Kempe said she thinks any hateful rhetoric or targeted vandalism stems from a lack of knowledge and understanding. She encourages people to get out of their “bubble” and have more conversations about respecting others and their identities.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com