Rainbow flags stolen in San Jose More than 75 rainbow flags have been stolen in Willow Glen as National Pride Month kicks off. This has become a recurring problem.
Local real estate agent Holly Barr buys and places the flags on Willow Glen’s main street, Lincoln Avenue, annually starting in June. Every year she says they get stolen, but she doesn’t let that stop her efforts to celebrate and support the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, or LGBTQ+, communities.
“Every year it’s a controversy and I just don’t understand it,” Barr told San José Spotlight. “But I’m going to keep doing it because it’s about inclusion, acceptance, love and positivity.”
On Lincoln Avenue, there are buckets at 12 different crosswalks with bright orange flags for residents to use to safely cross the street, with the expectation that people will return them once they’re done. Barr started that initiative on her own 13 years ago, and in June she’s adding rainbow flags to each bucket to mark Pride, a month-long celebration and commemoration of LGBTQ+ communities that began after the Stonewall riots in 1969.
Barr said she buys hundreds of rainbow flags each year to prepare for them being stolen. On each flag, Barr writes a different positive word like “love” or “acceptance” to remind people what she believes Pride stands for. She typically has to add new flags to the buckets every couple of days to replace the ones that are taken.
"I've seen them vandalized or dumped (around) random parts of the city," Barr said. "But when people steal this, it's not without reason. It sends a clear message."
She said some businesses have offered to place the flags on their front doors or directly outside. Barr declined the offers because she wants the flags to be available for people to use at night when the streets are more dangerous. Barr said some residents have donated money and flags to help with the costs of replacing ones that were stolen or destroyed.
But there are others who say having rainbow flags in public is an attack on children, in addition to other anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments. Some of those comments can be seen on Barr’s Facebook page, Willow Glen Charm, where she updates neighbors on hyper-local news like a car accident or success stories from Willow Glen High School.
She said some businesses have offered to place the flags on their front doors or directly outside. Barr declined the offers because she wants the flags to be available for people to use at night when the streets are more dangerous. Barr said some residents have donated money and flags to help with the costs of replacing ones that were stolen or destroyed.
"I don't want to waste police time with this or any other resource to catch who's doing this," Barr said. "It's sad, but I'll continue to replace them."
Gabrielle Antolovich, board president of the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center, called Barr a “heroic realtor” and is inspired by her activism. Antolovich said she laughed with joy when she heard Barr was going to keep adding new flags despite them being repeatedly stolen.
“I’m not surprised that this is happening because homophobic people are so mean-spirited,” Antolovich told San José Spotlight. “That’s what homophobia does, it dampens enthusiasm.”
Councilman Dev Davis, who represents Willow Glen, said the flags could be stolen out of homophobia or because people want to keep a rainbow flag. However, she condemns the behavior.
“I co-sponsor the raising of the Pride flag at City Hall every year,” Davis told San José Spotlight. “I hope and believe that the vast majority of our community supports Pride Month and our LGBTQ+ neighbors.”
Antolovich said he will organize more people to donate flags because “we need more people to fight.”
“Homophobia is everywhere, even in San Jose,” Antolovich said. “It’s a very sad situation because the people who are against us are also against people of color, immigrants and all kinds of people.”
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This publication was supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
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