Homophobic vandal takes pride in trashing Pride at elementary school ‘Rant’ letter left behind after inclusivity flag torn down; ‘I think the staff were shaken up,’ says Seven Oaks School Division superintendent By: Carol Sanders Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, May. 16, 2023 Last Modified: 7:11 PM CDT Tuesday, May. 16, 2023 Updates

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/05/2023 (874 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police are investigating after a Pride flag mounted outside a Winnipeg elementary school was torn down over the weekend and a “homophobic rant” letter left behind claimed responsibility and pride in the act.

“I think the staff were shaken up,” said Seven Oaks School Division Supt. Brian O’Leary. On Monday, Riverbend Community School noticed the wall-mounted rainbow banner representing the diversity of the LGBTTQ+ community had been wrenched from the school along with the brick to which it was mounted.

“It was very clear this was an intentional act,” O’Leary said Tuesday. “Someone left a letter stating they’d done it deliberately…. The individual wrote an anonymous letter claiming they were proud of their actions. It was a homophobic rant… ‘Schools have no business flying a pride flag, how could we be doing this?’ That sort of stuff.”

The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed the incident is under investigation but couldn’t say if it is being investigated as a hate crime.

When an offence committed was clearly motivated by hatred towards a particular group, that counts as a hate crime, said University of Manitoba assistant law Prof. Gerard Kennedy, adding he was hesitant to comment further because he’s not a criminal law scholar and doesn’t have expertise in LGBTTQ+ rights.

The incident has triggered another investigation into books that have gone missing from the school that include LGBTTQ+ and Indigenous representation, O’Leary said. Riverbend Community School listed 17 books that have disappeared. They include such titles as Pink is for Boys, It Feels Good to be Yourself and I Sang You Down from the Stars and Stolen Words.

”Books in our schools reflect diversity and inclusion,” O’Leary said, “like having two moms or two dads, and books that reflect Indigenous students and their families and people of colour.” The school also known as Riverbend Gikinoo’amaagewigamig has an Indigenous bilingual program, and roughly 20 per cent of the student body is of Indigenous descent.

“It was very clear this was an intentional act. Someone left a letter stating they’d done it deliberately…. The individual wrote an anonymous letter claiming they were proud of their actions. It was a homophobic rant… ‘Schools have no business flying a pride flag, how could we be doing this?’ That sort of stuff.”–Seven Oaks School Division Supt. Brian O’Leary

“It’s something we take a great amount of pride in,” said O’Leary. “We try to see that every student and family sees themselves represented. There’s LGBTTQ references in some of the books and Indigenous references in others.”

Riverbend’s Strong Warrior Girls Anishinaabe Singers — Zoongi Ogichidaa Anishinaabe Ikwezensag Nagamoag — sang O Canada in Ojibwe at a Winnipeg Blue Bombers game last year, he said.

“Teachers work to make certain that what we have in our classrooms and libraries is age-appropriate, he said. “If there’s content that’s sensitive, it’s held back a bit. There wouldn’t be anything explicit in an elementary school library.”

The superintendent said the division has received complaints about the pride flag “from time to time” that most often come from a community member, rather than a parent. He said there is protocol and etiquette that the school division follows wherein the Canadian flag is always the most prominent and flown higher than others.

He said the division has never experienced anything like the homophobic vandalism that occurred sometime over the weekend at Riverbend.

The NDP say it’s part of escalating anti-LGBTTQ+ rhetoric being heard in Manitoba and called on Progressive Conservative Premier Heather Stefanson during question period Tuesday to condemn what happened.

“It’s clear these attacks were deliberate and targeted,” said Uzoma Asagwara, the queer-identifying NDP health critic. “This is not just an attack on the school, it’s a hate crime and an attack on the very existence of members of the LGBTTQ+ community, as well as other equity-seeking groups.”

Sport, Culture and Heritage Minister Obby Khan responded, saying the PC government stands for inclusivity and diversity and supports the LGBTTQ+ community.

Earlier in question period, NDP Leader Wab Kinew, for the second consecutive day, called on the premier to oppose the banning of books after a delegation asked Brandon School Division trustees to remove materials that included any LGBTTQ+ representation or references.

Related Articles

School division will deal with book ban issue: premier

Librarians speak against request for book ban in Brandon schools

Move afoot to ban LGBTTQ+ books from Brandon schools

Riverbend flag theft tabbed as possible hate crime

Province creates new gender-equity office to co-ordinate services for LGBTTQ+ community

LGBTTQ+ community in Winnipeg sending message to Brandon School Board

Trustee makes anti-trans remarks on social media

‘It’s a hate crime’: rainbow-painted Pride crosswalks vandalized in Lundar

Events planned to counter anti-LGBTQ rallies

“There is no book ban in this province,” said Khan, who accused the Opposition of “fear mongering.”

After question period, Khan told reporters that local school divisions and libraries have the legal right to decide on library materials, and the government supports that.

“We do not stand for hate. We do stand with all communities,” he said.

Khan would not say whether he supports keeping the materials that are now available in public schools accessible to students.

— With files from Maggie Macintosh

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Paul Samyn | Editor's Note

Wednesdays

A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom.

Sign up for Paul Samyn | Editor's Note

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.

Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.