‘This kind of stuff does still happen.’ Pride flag burned outside man’s Lexington home
A Lexington man said he woke up Monday morning to discover that the LGBTQ pride flag attached to the front of his house had been burned overnight.
James Grant Wilson shared video on Facebook that shows two people approach the flag and set it on fire.
“It’s lucky that I have brick siding,” he said, otherwise, the house could have caught fire too.
Lexington police said they were investigating the incident as a hate crime. A spokesperson for the department said the investigation was ongoing and they didn’t have more information to release as of Wednesday.
Wilson said the camera footage indicates the flag was burned at about 11:25 p.m. Sunday. Wilson said he didn’t get home until later in the evening, and because it was dark he didn’t realize what had been done until Monday morning.
He said he felt it was important to speak out.
“People need to know that this kind of stuff does still happen,” he said. “We have a right to exist just as much as anybody else.”
Wilson said he thinks the perpetrators could be “teenagers pulling a prank for social media.”
Overall, he said, “we do believe that Lexington is a fair and inclusive place.” He said his neighbors demonstrated that by coming over and doing chalk art on the sidewalk with affirming messages after the incident.
Wilson said he’s rehung two other rainbow flags that he already had.
“If they burn these two, I’ll hang up three next time,” he said.
This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 6:44 AM.
