Vandals graffiti ‘stop your gay agenda’ on Pride rainbow mural
Vandals have defaced a rainbow mural in Texas, writing “stop your gay agenda please” and spray painting a giant “X” across the Pride-themed art installation.
The BeVisible Pride Wall, created by artist Hugo Perez, was unveiled in April to promote LGBT+ equality in Houston.
However, anti-gay vandals graffitied over the Pride mural on Saturday night (November 24), reports KTRK-TV.
“The Pride Portraits BE VISIBLE wall has been targeted with hate. Our hearts are heavy but we will RESIST.”
Houston’s Be Visible Pride Wall is targeted by anti-gay vandals
The BeVisible Pride Wall is part of a wider initiative known as Pride Portraits, which was created in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in June 2016, to make LGBT+ people more visible and feel less alone.
“The Pride Portraits BE VISIBLE wall has been targeted with hate. Our hearts are heavy but we will RESIST,” reads a statement on Pride Portraits’ Facebook page.
“LOVE to all, [founders] Eric, Hugo, Crimson, Jenni and Scott.”
Another statement on Monday (November 26) from Jenni’s Noodle House, where the BeVisible Pride Wall is located, said that the wall “will be repainted this week.”
The statement, shared by Pride Portraits, added: “With the hate speech that was spread over the affirming and uplighting mural it is a reminder to continue to Be Visible.
“Both myself and Pride Portraits will continue the work that we do individually and mutually to bring visibility, representation and humanization for the LGBTQIA+ community to the forefront.”
BeVisible Pride Wall is about visibility, not “gay agenda”
Eric Schell, creator of Pride Portraits, told GSN: “This type of vandalism brings me right back to the Pulse shooting and the realisation that people want our community silenced – if not dead – for simply existing.
“Being visible in our community puts a target on our backs, but visibility is imperative to our right to exist in society.”
He added: “There is no ‘gay agenda.’ We are not asking for extra rights [and] we are not asking that you have less rights.
“We are seeking equality.”
The Pride Portraits website states that the Be Visible Pride Wall was made in “this time of emboldened resistance to equity and equality.”
The page adds: “This wall is an extension of our mission to give people a platform to be visible, represented and humanised.
“Unfortunately, Houston has lost two Pride inspired paint walls in 2018 so it is our hope that people who identify within the LGBTQIA+ spectrum will be reminded that they are not alone and they have the support of Houston’s ever-growing LGBTQIA+ community and our extraordinary allies when looking at this wall.”