‘Disgraceful and offensive’: Surrey Pride crosswalk vandalized

A Surrey rainbow crosswalk was vandalized on May 30 — two days before Pride month began.

Vandals spray painted black lines on the crosswalk at the intersection of Old Yale Road and University Drive, which is near Surrey Central Station and just minutes from city hall.

Sher Pride, a charity that supports queer South Asians and allies, wrote that it’s committed to supporting the 2SLGBTQIA+ community following the hate crime.

“Pride Month begins with a reminder that Pride started as a protest and continues today as a joyful act of resistance,” Sher Pride President Annie Ohana wrote in a statement. “[The vandalization] is a sad reminder that hatred and violence toward the 2SLGBTQIA+ community still exist.”

The graffiti was removed by city crews the morning of June 1.

“The graffiti on the rainbow crosswalk at Surrey Central Station was disgraceful and offensive,” Mayor Brenda Locke said in a statement.

Surrey Police Service was contacted about a small protest at the intersection and has identified three persons of interest.

“We will also specifically be looking into whether this may be hate-motivated, but it is premature to definitively make that determination,” Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton wrote in a statement.

Freedom Party of BC leader Amrit Birring posted a video showing him and one other man spray-painting the crosswalk. His party’s platform includes anti-SOGI 123 policies.

Birring is a former mayoral candidate and ran in the last B.C. election in the Surrey-Newton riding, where he attended a debate at KPU. He received 371 votes, representing 2.4 per cent of the vote in that election.

“While this act was intended to create fear, it has done anything but that,” Ohana wrote. “We stand in resistance to anyone who seeks to erase our rights and our humanity. We stand in resilience — in surviving, thriving, and building community against all odds.”