Is it sad that we are expecting crap like this to happen? With as much hatred as we have flowing in the United States currently, we expect this kind of behavior to exist. We may have thought things were getting better with marriage equality, blah blah blah, but that may just be it. It was a great step toward equality in the eyes of the law, but the haters still haven't changed. Was marriage equality a facade? Yes it does exist, but it made us feel good about ourselves for a while. Now we're coming down from that rush, not able to hang onto that victory for any real amount of time, and we are forced to realizing the hate is still there, the negativity toward LGBT still exists, and it ain't going away any time soon.
The Equality House in Topeka, Kansas, which stands directly across the street from the notoriously anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church, has been a symbol of the LGBTQ rights movement since it was first painted Pride flag colors in March of 2013. This week, however, the colorful symbol of equality was subjected to hate when spray-painted slurs and bullet holes were found on the home's exterior.
Aaron Jackson, president of Planting Peace and founder of the Equality House, was inside at the time the house was vandalized on Sunday with spray-paint. He was awoken at around 1:12 a.m. when he heard loud noises coming from outside. He called the police, and once they had arrived, they found the anti-gay slurs on the house. A few days later, seven bullet holes were found on the same side of the home.
This, unfortunately, is just the latest in a recent string of vandalism against Equality House.
"The Equality House has been a target for acts of hate and intolerance that reflect the same experiences our LGBT family face every day," Jackson said. "Planting Peace frequently receives hate mail and even death threats, but over the past three months we have seen an increase in physical acts of vandalism and violence. While it may seem shocking to some, it's a heartbreaking reality."
Jackson also told NBC OUT someone claiming to be a member of the KKK recently visited the house and warned of an "open season" on LGBTQ people. Urine and fecal matter were also recently found in Equality House's free library.
"In three years of existence, this is the most activity we've seen, beyond the regular incidents of people driving by and yelling anti-LGBT slurs," Jackson said. – nbcnews.com
Head over to NBC news where The LGBTQ community is subjected to hate crimes at a higher rate than any other minority group, according to the FBI.
That was in Kansas, and now on to Iowa.
Chris Schwartz, the out Democratic candidate for supervisor in Black Hawk County, Iowa, woke up Thursday to a find antigay vandals had targeted his home.
He posted photos of the damage on Facebook, showing how they spray painted a homophobic slur on his campaign lawn sign, vandalized a door to his home with a biblical citation related to homosexuality often cited by antigay Christians, and used more spray paint to vandalize other candidates’ signs, including Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
A website called Unicornbooty.com reported a local group called Cedar Valley Patriots for Christ has offered to raise money to clean up the vandalism at Schwartz’s home even though they support his Republican competitors. – lgbtqnation.com
Head over to Chris Schwartz's Facebook page to read more about this incident and see if justice will be served.
Surprised? Shocked? We're use to it?
h/t: lgbtqnation.com, nbcnews.com