LGBTQ Pride flags destroyed in two separate incidents

For eight years, Steven Menendez volunteered to hang Pride flags around the fence of Stonewall National Monument.

“I come by every day to check on the flags and make sure they are replaced if any are missing,” Menendez said.

Over the past two years, flags around the park have been destroyed. On Friday morning, Menendez found over 150 flags ripped from the fence and broken. He estimates that about three-quarters of the flags have been destroyed.

“It’s very upsetting that someone has so much anger and hatred inside them that they have to destroy flags,” Menendez said.

“It happened last year too, but this year it has had such an impact – it’s sad, it’s really sad,” said volunteer Jamila Dphrepaulezz.

On Friday afternoon, the flags were raised again. Volunteers gathered to replace hate with love and anger with pride. The police are now looking for those responsible.

“It is outrageous that someone would target our community in this particular place, this month, at the Stonewall Inn,” said Council Member Erik Bottcher.

Bottcher said that shortly after receiving text messages about the destruction of the flags, he received messages about a second incident.

“Minutes later, I got another text from residents on 21st Street telling me that flags were being burned in their neighborhood,” Bottcher said.

Bottcher said the flags were hung by neighborhood associations in Chelsea to decorate the area for the Pride celebrity.

“If their goal was to scare us, they have failed, and failed miserably. Because that kind of thing only strengthens our resolve,” Bottcher said.

Menendez said he would continue to replace the flags if he had to. He said his determination came from his uncle, who died of AIDS. His uncle first took Menendez to the Stonewall Inn, a bar where the gay rights movement began – across the street from the memorial.

“These flags represent many things. They honor all the activists who fought for our rights,” Menendez said. “They also give hope to the young people. Tears roll down their cheeks and I see how meaningful this place is to them.”

Menendez is calling for a police presence in the park during the last two weeks of Pride month to protect the flags.