Pride banners were taken from North Scottsdale United Methodist Church at the beginning of June. Pastor David Rennick, who posted about the incident on Facebook, told the Arizona Republic that this was the first year that the church put up Pride banners.
“We never knew that such love for All would be met with such rejection,” Rennick wrote in his post. He followed up with “we report new banners are on their way. #lovewins.”
This was not the first time the banners had been tampered with. Previously, they were found removed and laying on the ground Rennick told the Arizona Republic.
The idea behind putting up Pride banners outside the church came from a young person on the church’s governing committee, according to the ArizonaRepublic. North Scottsdale United Methodist Church has also shared posts on Facebook supporting Pride month.
“Pride month is a time to recognize the contribution the queer community has in the world. But more so, Pride is a call to the faith community to embrace the diversity and inclusion of everybody,” the church wrote in a June 4 post. “The rainbow flag is a symbol of the Pride movement but also reminds us how the rainbow is a symbol of God’s promises of care and love.”
This incident comes after Scottsdale joined several other Arizona cities in passing nondiscrimination ordinances that protect the LGBTQ community. Scottsdale police are investigating the incident.