After a series of vandalism incidents where the Pride Pathway at Nose Creek Park in Airdrie was defaced, the LGBTQ+ community is having to endure another message of hate directed their way.  

de of a shed located at the south city limits of Airdrie close to the City of Airdrie sign on the QEII Highway. 

Candace Kutyn, the Vice-President of the Airdrie Pride Society doesn't believe the placement of the message is a coincidence.  "It's right beside the welcome to Airdrie sign on the highway, right?  This is a very targetted location."

While a message like that is extremely upsetting and discouraging to Kutyn, she still believes the acts of hatred only represent a small portion of the city.  That, however, doesn't make them hurt any less.   

"This speaks to the work that's still left to do.  It's acts like this that solidify our commitment to continue the work of dismantling oppression, not only for the LGBTQ+ community but for the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) community as well.  As much as it hurts to recognize, the hate is very much alive and well in Airdrie."

According to Kutyn, one of the greatest fears is that people take incidents of this nature too lightly.  "I think that change in the world right now is giving voices to those who have been silenced for so long and people with this kind of hate in their hearts really thrive on silencing others.  This movement towards really dismantling these forms of oppression is just emboldening those who were comfortable with our silence to really speak louder, and to scream."

Kutyn says there are many individuals in the LGBTQ+ community who are now afraid to be themselves.  "And that's not okay," Kutyn states emphatically.  "No one should have to walk around in fear."

Once again, Kutyn is heartened by the amount of support shown for the LGBTQ+ community.  After only being informed of the hate message yesterday, she says allies in the city have reached out to the owner of the property and have received permission to paint over the hateful words.  "We are supporting and we are a part of that repaint process but it's important to recognize that it was another group of individuals who reached out and said, 'let's work together to do this.  Hate doesn't live here and we want to cover this up'."