Even after half a dozen attacks on the rainbow flag, one Michigan neighborhood is showing that our community won’t back down to violence.
Video out of Lansing, Michigan early Tuesday morning shows a man dousing a Pride flag in gasoline before lighting it on fire — and judging from the flash, nearly taking himself with it.
The Pride flag display has been set up alongside the American flag around the sign between Lansing proper and the Eastside Lansing neighborhoods since Pride month began.
Related: Arsonist sets Pride flag ablaze and burns down multiple homes in the process
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This isn’t the first time this Pride display has been targeted. This month alone, it’s reported that Pride flags around the sign have been vandalized or stolen at least five times.
In one such incident, a man actually sawed through a steel lock just to steal one of the flags.
Ryan Kost, a board member of Lansing’s Eastside Neighborhood Organization, said the community won’t be giving up any time soon.
“I think there’s a lot of disappointment that is going around,” he said. “Maybe some frustration, anger. I can tell you that I’m a hopeless optimist. I am optimistic every time we put a flag up that it won’t happen again.
“I don’t know what kid needs to see that good people will continue to do good things, but I hope that this is a good example of good people continuing to do good things and not just cowering when someone does something so awful.”
Related: Suspect indicted for setting fire to crowded Washington gay bar
Since the incident, neighbors have quickly rallied to donate money and replacement flags for the display.
Come Tuesday evening, a new Pride flag was flying high by the sign once again.
Watch a local resident describe the situation on the scene:
@thefamilyssouptv #Lansing #pride #pridemonth #michigan ♬ original sound – thefamilyssouptv
Mario
Lancing, Michigan.
Another Democrat-controlled city where crime is out of control.
Sad.
dbmcvey
Hey Mario, are you down because you almost caught yourself on fire trying to burn a pride flag? Maybe it’s time for you to examine your life and see where you went wrong. Time to do something meaningful. Quit your job with the Russian Troll farm and volunteer. Maybe read to old people. Do something that will give you a sense of accomplishment rather than the waste of space you are now. It’s not too late!
whereshouldistart
MARIO…are you seriously blaming the actions of a right-wing homophobe on DEMOCRATS???
Take your meds.
Seriously.
Bosch
Hahahaha trying to blame homophobic flag burning on the democrats.
You’re so dumb, I’ve had ejaculate smarter than you.
LumpyPillows
Mario, I’m sad for how pathetic your life must really be.
Velvetalex
We get it. No one wants to be around you, so you come here. And it’s Lansing. Illiterate!
Kangol2
Mario’s trolling is off the charts. But before they came up with this new name they were here bombarding us as James Hart, etc. for a few months, always either in defense of right-wing claptrap or to dismiss something Queerty was featuring. They’re clearly very unhappy and angry, so just don’t feed their ego, ignore them.
ddod
@Velvetalex In his defense, “lancing” was what his mother had to do in order to give birth to him, so maybe he’s just overly fond of the word.
JTinToronto
Does Queerty ever ban anyone from posting comments? Mario – Lansing is spelled with an “s” not a “c”.
boblrice
@dbmvvey – nicely done.
@mario – it’s pretty entertaining to see how you tried to blame an anti-queer bigot’s actions on progressive ideals. As conservative deflection, this one is kinda sloppy. We’ve definitely seen better.
scotty
those deepest in the closet are the most vocal and active pride flag burners.
Bosch
Every single time.
white-queer-african
@Mario sounds just like someone we know with 14 screennames at the last count. Is this screenname number 15 Mario?
Oh just FO and die anyway.
Kangol2
Yes, it’s probably that same person. They even started in with their predictions on the November elections, which was something they were gloating about a lot when they were posting under 3-4 different names. The only thing is this time, they aren’t claiming to be trans or reminiscing about New York or making overtly racist comments about Democratic voters. At least not yet.
LumpyPillows
Sadly this story includes the word “almost”.
monty clift
Next time Queerty pull out your bellows and stoke one of these SOBs good and proper… then tell me about it.
Chrisk
Too bad he didn’t. I would’ve put the benny hill theme song along side it.