‘Heartbreaking’: Pride crosswalk in Manitoba community vandalized

A rainbow-coloured crosswalk in Souris showing support to the LGBTQ2S+ community was vandalized over the weekend.

A Manitoba community had its pride crosswalk vandalized over the Halloween weekend.

The rainbow-painted crosswalk in Souris, located at First Street South and Crescent Avenue West, was covered with white paint on Halloween, according to the Souris Pride Committee.

“To wake up on Saturday morning and find that our symbol of love was destroyed was pretty heartbreaking at first, but we quickly kind of decided that we’re going to come back and just fight this with more love and education and awareness,” said Caleigh Walker, one of the committee’s founding members.

Walker, who is queer, said the vandalism was particularly heartbreaking because she and other members of the committee were at a queer wedding on Halloween at the time.

The crosswalk was first painted in 2021, Walker said, after a resident’s rainbow flag was stolen from their home.

While there have been some minor acts of vandalism in the past on the crosswalk, Walker said the community has mostly been in favour of the crosswalk.

“The majority of the people in our community have been incredibly supportive and think that it’s just an excellent addition to our community,” she said.

Friday’s vandalism is the most significant act since it was painted.

The Municipality of Souris-Glenwood spoke out against the vandalism on social media, saying the mayor and council are saddened to see it.

“This kind of action doesn’t reflect who we are as a community,” the statement reads. “Disagreements can always be shared in respectful and constructive ways - damaging community spaces helps no one.”

RCMP have confirmed they have received a report about the vandalism and are investigating.

Walker said it is unlikely the crosswalk will be repainted until next summer due to the weather. She said its presence reminds people, especially members of the LGBTQ2S+ community growing up in smaller communities, that there is support there for them.

“There are so many kids in our community now that know that they are seen and loved; having grown up here in my generation, we didn’t have that,” she said. “The change is coming, and the change is beautiful, and I don’t think the people who did this abhorrent act on Friday really realized we would come back with so much love and compassion.”

Souris is approximately 46 kilometres southwest of Brandon.