![2016 gay flag burning 2016 gay flag burning](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/A2HIyfS6uxc/maxresdefault.jpg)
![2016 gay flag burning 2016 gay flag burning](https://media.nbcbayarea.com/2019/09/LANDSCAPE.00_00_41_06.Still001.jpg)
“It’s a hate crime,” Riitano said of the flag burning. Riitano noted the flag burning comes just days after that service where so many showed support for the LGBT community. Rose in response to the Orlando massacre. Riitano, through her position at the council, led a packed interfaith service at the College of St. It’s so shocking - we’re not even out of the shadow of Orlando yet.” “This is such a violation, the burning of the flag. “The Damien Center is a safe place for people with HIV and AIDS,” Council Executive Director Deb Riitano said. He hopes to have the replacement up Friday.Īlso housed in the church is the Capital Area Council of Churches. As word spread Thursday, Junjulas said they received two separate donations of replacement flags. Someone who got a closer look then alerted him to the vandalism. Junjulas said he noticed the flag from afar Thursday morning. They are asking anyone with information to contact police at 462-8039. Police said they believe that someone burned the flag sometime between 7 p.m.
![2016 gay flag burning 2016 gay flag burning](https://lgbtqnation-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/2016/11/rainbow-flag-500x281.jpg)
Police have stepped up patrols around the center, Junjulas said. He noted that the burning came just over a week after the Orlando Pulse nightclub massacre that killed 49 people. Junjulas, a married gay man living with AIDS himself, heads the center that serves about 400 people living with HIV and AIDS each year. He said it appears that whoever burned the flag deliberately burned each color on the rainbow flag, also referred to as the gay pride flag. Junjulas on Thursday evening said the center couldn’t be silent about the incident. Schenectady also has a Damien Center under the umbrella of the Albany site. The center provides services to those affected by HIV/AIDS and their families. The center moved in temporarily after a 2013 building fire at its previous location. The Albany Damien Center is housed in the First Lutheran Church. The post quickly gained notice online, garnering more than 500 shares and more than 160 comments within four hours of posting. “We appreciate all of our community’s support and love extended and stand in unity with our LGBT community during this time.” “In the wake of the Orlando tragedy, it is very disheartening to have this happen in our local community,” the posting reads. The center’s posting said they are “deeply saddened by the vandalism of the LGBT banner.” It shows people whooping and celebrating as the flag is burnt, and was filmed by a trans activist under the name of mx emily a rose, although she claims she was not responsible for the action itself. While it’s never OK to destroy others’ property, it seems Martinez’s punishment is incredibly harsh considering how other flag burners are able to get away with their crimes against the symbol of America itself.The Albany Damien Center posted a photo Thursday afternoon of the burned flag, including the center’s Executive Director Perry Junjulas staring through it. A video has emerged of marchers burning the American flag whilst on a trans power march in San Francisco. One man was accused of committing one of these cardinal social sins after refusing to have sex with a man who claimed to be a woman. Meanwhile, accusations of hate crimes can even be thrown at people for what they refuse to do. This lopsided definition of hate crime appears to be the new normal in many places in America.Įarlier this month, Florida prosecutors declined to pursue hate crime charges after a young boy was viciously ganged up on and beaten, reportedly over his support of President Donald Trump. After spending 16 years in prison, he will have to explain a hate crime charge to any prospective employers. WesternJournal report: Despite burning multiple flags using fire, it seems these protesters didn’t even get a slap on the wrist.įor Martinez, however, his actions will haunt him for the rest of his life. Leftists burns American flags on the pedestrian mall along Clinton Street in Iowa City, Iowa, on Thursday, Jan. “I see social injustice from Native American genocide to African-American slavery to failing to recognize women as citizens until the 20th century.”Ī photo of the 2017 flag burning can be seen below. “When I see the flag, I see racial injustice,” one protester said. The act was considered a hate crime because the flag represents a sexual orientation.ĭisturbingly, the same charges don’t seem to apply to those who burn the red, white and blue flag of the United States.Īs the Iowa City Press-Citizen reported in 2017, leftist protesters there were able to burn multiple American flags to protest social justice causes while insulting the very country that guaranteed them the freedom to do so without being prosecuted. Martinez was arrested in June after taking the rainbow flag from the United Church of Christ in Ames.