Crime
Equality House Defaced With Slurs, Bullets
The rainbow-painted symbol of LGBT hope in Kansas is under seige in the wake of the presidential election.
November 25 2016 11:48 AM EST
November 25 2016 12:09 PM EST
dnlreynolds
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The rainbow-painted symbol of LGBT hope in Kansas is under seige in the wake of the presidential election.
Equality House is under attack.
The rainbow-painted house -- a symbol of LGBT pride located across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka Kan. -- has been targeted multiple times in recent weeks, according to its founder, Aaron Jackson.
Jackson, whose nonprofit organization Planting Peace purchased the property in 2013 and transformed it into an outpost of hope, reported in a Facebook post Tuesday that his life was threatened by members of the Ku Klux Klan and the house's free library had been "covered in feces."
Alarmingly, Jackson also detailed how five white men spraypainted the words "fuk [sic] fags" on the house's facade. The vandals also shot at the property, leaving seven bullet holes in a window.
Jackson reported the incidents to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which confirmed that hate crimes have spiked in the wake of the presidential election. This is the first time Equality House has experienced attacks since its founding.
In response to these incidents, Jackson urged action to the LGBT community and its allies.
"But what scares me more than the bullets nailing my window and swastikas popping up on street corners around America is the absolute silence from far to many. This is no time to be complacent my friends. We must act," he wrote.
Read the full post below.