Recent vandalism won’t erase LGBTQ+ community in central Newfoundland: advocate

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This article was published 05/07/2025 (269 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. JOHN’S – The LGBTQ+ community in central Newfoundland is united and strong, despite recent vandalism appearing to target a rainbow crosswalk and Pride flag, a local advocate says.

The vandalism is a moral issue and it reflects a crisis of empathy, said Lexi MacDonald with Pride Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L.

“This was not a harmless prank. It was a deliberate attempt to shame people simply for existing,” MacDonald wrote in an email Saturday. “We are not going anywhere. The queer and trans community in central Newfoundland is growing, healing, and standing taller than ever, and no spray paint in the world can cover that up.”

Police said Friday that a rainbow crosswalk had been defaced earlier in the week in front of a school in Botwood, N.L., about 35 kilometres northeast of Grand Falls-Windsor. The perpetrators spray-painted “walk of sham” across the brightly coloured walkway, though RCMP said they may have intended to write, “walk of shame.”

In a news release, the Mounties said the incident was disturbing, and they are investigating it as a case of mischief and property damage.

The vandalism occurred about two-and-a-half weeks after someone shot out a window in Natalie Smith’s store in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Smith said the perpetrator used a BB gun and she believes they targeted the large rainbow Pride flag hanging in the window.

“This is our store, you’ve personally targeted us,” she said in an interview. “What will you do next? Because if you could go this far, you could do something worse.”

It was the second time in two years that someone shot at her business, called C&S Unique Gifts and Newfoundland Souvenirs. The first time, in October 2023, they shot out four of her windows, she said.

Smith said she feels some political views are shifting far enough to platform and tolerate bigotry. Members of the local and provincial governments must speak out about what has happened, she said.

“This is just basic human rights,” said Smith, who is a member of the Pride Grand Falls-Windsor’s board of directors. “We need to just say, ‘stop, enough is enough.'”

Pleaman Forsey, the Progressive Conservative who represents the region in the provincial government, agrees that enough is enough.

“This behaviour is unacceptable,” he said in an interview Saturday. “It should not be tolerated.”

He called for more policing and better education about LGBTQ+ issues. However, a survey released earlier this year by the Justice Department suggests that those who identify as LGBTQ+ in the province were less likely to agree that police treated their community respectfully.

According to the 2021 census, Grand Falls-Windsor is home to about 12,000 people and about 2,775 people live in Botwood. Nobody from the town’s council was available for comment on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2025.