A local Riverview family woke this morning to find seven tyres on their family cars slashed. They also found their Rainbow Flag cut from their flagpole slashed and thrown on the ground. Their Rainbow Flag flies alternately with their Australian Flag, Indigenous Flag and a few other flags they own.
The family involved is very upset and have reported the crime to the Police who are investigating.
Family Asks For Inclusivity
The family told ITC:
“A reminder to all, what this beautiful rainbow flag represents:
Red – Life
Orange – Healing
Yellow – Sunlight
Green – Nature
Blue – Magic, Art, Serenity
Violet – SpiritSo to those that did this and for those who do not understand the meaning, this flag is for us all, it is hope, love, understanding and most importantly inclusiveness.
If the Council, agrees we will for holding a gay pride community event in the Canopy and we will let you know more when the time comes.”
The family live in Riverview, and if you have any information, dashcam or CCTV footage, please contact Chatswood Police.
Previous Gay Hate Crimes
This is not the first time that cars have been attacked in Lane Cove due to gay hate. The Lane Cove Theatre Company has also been the subject of attacks.
At the end of one performance for ‘Holding the Man’, audience members, cast and crew returned to their cars to discover their tyres had been slashed. To make it even more inconvenient, two tyres were slashed on each car. At least 12 cars were attacked.
Holding the Man is based on Timothy Conigrave’s celebrated memoir of the same name. Tommy Murphy’s award-winning play is a breathtakingly honest, achingly funny and completely heart-wrenching account of a 15-year relationship that weathered disapproval, separation, temptation and, ultimately, death. It is a story – and a celebration – that speaks across generations, sexual preference and cultures. This play was a huge success and played to a packed audience.
Nearly two years later, tyres were slashed again. Eleven cars had their tyres slashed during a performance of LCTC’s Managing Carmen. This included cars owned by people who were not attending the performance but just happened to be parked in Longueville.
Managing Carmen is a play written by one of Australia’s greatest playwrights, David Williamson, about a footy star who loves women and cross-dressing. Police attended the theatre after reports of tyres being slashed.
The Lane Cove Theatre Company posted the following on their Facebook page.
“Out of the darkness comes the light.
Last night a total of 11 cars had their tyres slashed. Our cast, crew and patrons came to their cars after the show, some came for the first time to one of our shows. They left the hall all buoyed up and happy to find that someone(s) malicious actions dampened all that.
On the upside a big shout out to the wonderful team who changed everybody’s tyres and got them back on the road home. They are the ones we would like to get the attention- Ross Mildwater, Jeremy Cardew, Jeremy Segal, Alexander Morgan, Lochie Paul Gardiner-Beh and all the other cast and crew who helped in the rain. Some of these men had their own cars vandalised. And also to those at St Aidan’s Church who helped us too. This is the type of community that we treasure.”
Posters and Yarm Bombing Taken Down
The slashing was also accompanied by Holding the Man posters being torn down from the locations the LCTC had advertised its shows for more than 20 years.
In 2017, A similar act of protest occurred when Yarn Bomber Cee Egan‘s Love is Love Yarn Bomb was taken down a day after it was installed in Lane Cove. At that time, one same-sex couple told ITC that on two occasions, they have had homophobic remarks shouted at them in Lane Cove.
It is not all bad news in Lane Cove; when Australia was deciding on Same-Sex Marriage, we received several reports about inclusivity. You can read more here.
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