Two murals in Manchester’s gay village were defaced with homophobic graffiti. (Twitter/ macinnes_neil)
Vile homophobic graffiti has been discovered on two murals in Manchester’s gay village during Pride month.
A mural of gay World War II codebreaker Alan Turing and Manchester drag queen Foo Foo Lammar was targeted, as well as one of Drag Race UK star Divina de Campo, both of which were located close to Manchester’s iconic Canal Street in the gay village.
The vandals spray painted the words “dirty bastars [sic]” as well as the numbers “666”.
The local LGBT+ community and politicians were left “outraged and disgusted” after the beloved murals were defaced.
Outraged and disgusted tonight – why , just why pic.twitter.com/gxTqjemToT
— Neil MacInnes OBE (@macinnes_neil) June 27, 2021
One Twitter user wrote: “This makes me so sad. These murals always bring me so much pride when I see them in the village.”
“This is really depressing to see,” said another. “Manchester accepts everyone, the city and its people are so much better than this.”
City centre councillor Jon-Connor Lyons, who represents Manchester’s Piccadilly Ward, insisted that he would report the graffiti on the gay village murals to the police.
He wrote on Twitter: “Absolutely disgusted to hear that someone has vandalised our gay village with homophobic language, which is specifically targeting our LGBT+ community.
“They are nothing but cowards. We are a tolerant city and Mancunians won’t stand for this. We’ll be speaking with Greater Manchester Police.”
Absolutely disgusted to hear that someone has vandalised our Gay Village with homophobic language, which is specifically targeting our LGBTQ+ community. They are nothing but cowards. We are a tolerant city and Mancunians won’t stand for this. We’ll be speaking with GMP. pic.twitter.com/F4q9rXPjYP
— Cllr Jon-Connor Lyons 🐝🌈 (@JonConnorLyons) June 26, 2021
Councillor Pat Karney, secretary of the Manchester Labour Group, described the vandalism as “disgraceful”, and promised: “We will get it cleaned off ASAP.” Joanne Roney, chief executive of Manchester City Council, added: “Absolutely. We will.”
Salford Pride wrote on Twitter: “Canal Street is a haven for a lot of the Greater Manchester LGBT+ community. Seeing this vandalism is a great cause for concern.
“Being resilient as LGBT+ people can be tiring, but here’s a time where we have to be again. If you’re out and about, be safe but be proud!”
PinkNews has approached Greater Manchester Police for comment.