Growing hate on Prince Edward Island: Read Pride PEI’s Letter to Police and Government
“What some might dismiss as simple acts of vandalism, we see as hate, and there is no room for hate on Prince Edward Island.”
– The Pride PEI Board of Directors
Date: Friday, August 6, 2021
Attention:
Hon. Dennis King, Premier of Prince Edward Island
Hon. Peter Bevan-Baker, Leader of the Official Opposition
Hon. Bloyce Thompson, Minister of Justice and Public Safety
Jonah Thompson, Deputy Minister of Justice and Public Safety
Sonny Gallant, Interim Leader of the Third Party
Lynne Lund, Opposition Critic for Justice and Public Safety
Karla Bernard, MLA, Charlottetown-Victoria Park
Gordon McNeilly, MLA, Charlottetown-West Royalty
Sean J. Casey MP QC, MP for Charlottetown
Hon. Wayne Easter PC MP, MP for Malpeque
Hon. Lawrence MacAulay PC MP, MP for Cardigan
Robert J. Morrissey MP, MP for Egmont
Mayor Philip Brown, City of Charlottetown
C/Supt. Jennifer Ebert, Commanding Officer "L" Division, RCMP
John Warr, Acting Police Services Manager, Office of Police Commissioner
Paul Smith, Chief of Police, Charlottetown Police Services
Brad MacConnell, Dep. Chief of Police - Administration, Charlottetown Police Services
Sean Coombs, Dep. Chief of Police - Operations, Charlottetown Police Services
Dave Poirier, Chief of Police, Summerside Police Department
Lewis Sutherland, Chief of Police, Kensington Police Department
Brenda Picard, J QC., Executive Director, PEI Human Rights Commission Office
We write to you today as individual Directors of Pride PEI, all of us volunteers, who have come together to give considerable time, effort, and resources to support the diverse community of Prince Edward Island’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community (or “Queer” community, a term a number of our Members are reclaiming).
Pride PEI is a non-commercial, not-for-profit organization that strives to advocate for justice for all people regardless of gender expression or sexual identity. Recently our community has come under attack in Prince Edward Island.
Enshrined in Pride PEI’s Constitution is the Vision of our organization: “To make Prince Edward Island a leader in celebrating and promoting the diversity of gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender expression.” More explicitly, our Mission is “to create an inclusive community through the annual PEI Pride festival and parade, ongoing social events, education, and advocacy. We will uplift and center the voices of our most marginalized members, recognizing that social equality does not equal social equity.”
There has been a recent spate of hate attacks against our community, and it is the duty of Pride PEI to engage with Justice, Police and Public Safety, and Legal groups across Prince Edward Island, not only to stop the hate that has escalated, but to root it out and prevent it from spreading further.
This excess of vandalism and other acts of demonstrative hate here on the Island are directed against the Queer community, starting with clear timing in early June 2021, when organizations around the world began Pride commemorations. As organizations across PEI began to fly the Pride flag and the new Progressive Pride flag which includes BIPOC and trans identities, they were torn down or cut down. Upwards of eight Pride flags were stolen in Victoria-by-the-Sea, a Pride flag was destroyed at the Holy Fox Food Truck as broadcast on CBC’s Compass, and the Lucky Bean Cafe in Stratford had its Pride flag stolen and their flagpole destroyed. Pride flags have, on more than one occasion, been stolen from Green Gay Bulls B&B in Vernon Bridge. Pride PEI continues to donate flags and fund replacements of those items destroyed from our limited budget, because representation and visibility can, in many cases, be life-saving.
Most recently, in plain sight, the multi-coloured duct tape representing the Progressive Pride colours that lined the steps of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Charlottetown to celebrate Pride and give a clear welcome the Island’s Queer community, was torn off and discarded, removed without the knowledge of the church who will be replacing it and offering a Morning Message about its meaning, because visibility and representation matters.
Any one of these incidents could, sadly, be dismissed, but taken together, they have raised red flags for us at Pride PEI. Simply put, there is a problem in PEI. Pride PEI’s Executive Officers will be doing everything we can in the coming months to work with all three levels of government, across Prince Edward Island, to ensure that it is clear that hate against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community anywhere on the Island is unacceptable, and those spreading it or manifesting it will be held accountable. Actions that seek to minimize the free expression of a recognized minority group protected under the Charter are Hate, and there is no exception.
While we do not necessarily intend to imply that this in an organized campaign against our community, we absolutely acknowledge that it is our duty to bring this collective and very public show of hate to your attention as a matter of record, highlighting the fact that there is a serious problem in PEI coming to light wherein individuals are taking bold preliminary steps, acting out against the visibility and representation that matter so much to a disenfranchised community like ours.
The Queer community is united through our shared experiences of historical injustice, the need almost every 2SLGBTQIA+ individual has experienced in hiding in the closet - the targeting, belittling, bullying, criminalization, prejudice, and violence perpetrated against us. Our concern lies in keeping matters from escalating and in protecting our community members, and while we realize that law enforcement is limited in what actions can be taken to prevent further incidents from occurring, we implore you to work with your team, your officers, your staff, and your community partners to take this seriously. This is about the safety of our community, and taken further, this can get much worse very quickly.
What we ask of you, without any prejudice that you are not already doing your utmost, is to be aware of the situation at hand, of the possibility of escalation, and to be extra vigilant wherever possible. Taking these crimes against Islanders and Island businesses that deceptively appear minor seriously, and watching out for the safety of 2SLGBTQIA+ people in PEI is the baseline in ensuring that no one in PEI, regardless of who they are or how they identify, finds themselves at risk or in danger, or - worst of all - feels the hate that many of Pride PEI’s members are experiencing this week after the fifth attack against our community, our entire organization, and the Mission and Vision we are working so hard to uphold.
If we, the Directors of Pride PEI, or other members of our 2SLGBTQIA+ community who are educators and experts in queer-related justice, safety, and health supports, can help you or your team understand the seriousness of this issue, the history of violence against our community across Canada and particularly in rural and remote regions, or the needs of a diverse community protected under the Charter, we welcome any inquiries from you at any time to collaborate, education, and to both share and listen.
Our entire organization is grateful for you treating this with the serious diligence it demands. What some might dismiss as simple acts of vandalism, we see as hate, and there is no room for hate on Prince Edward Island.
Respectfully, The Board of Pride PEI:
John Mansell Kimmel (he/him), Chair, Interim Treasurer, and Director
Dave Stewart (he/him), Vice-Chair and Director
Andrea MacPherson (she/her), Corporate Secretary and Director
Rachel Adams (she/her), Director
Hal Atwood (they/them), Director
Janet Bradshaw (she/her), Director
Ashe Green (she/her), Director
Joce Reyome (they/them), Director
