Vandals paint anti-LGBTQ+ messages outside Long Beach Pride HQ

Vandals paint anti-LGBTQ+ messages in Long Beach

Vandals painted hateful messages targeting the LGBTQ+ community on a utility box outside Long Beach Pride's headquarter.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (CNS) - Vandals sprayed anti-LGBTQ+ language on a utility box in front of the building that houses Long Beach Pride and the act was being investigated as a hate crime, officials said Sunday.

The language, along with a swastika and the acronym "MAGA," were painted at about 5:40 p.m. Saturday at the corner of 10th Street and Obispo Avenue, according to Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman Allison Gallagher.

"Officers located graffiti that made derogatory statements," Gallagher said. "The incident is being investigated as hate- /bias- motivated."

Long Beach Pride is a nonprofit organization that produces the annual Pride festival and parade.

The vandalism "was not just an attack on a symbol, but an attack on our LGBTQ+ family, friends and neighbors," said Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson. "This vile act of hate has absolutely no place in Long Beach."

The city's graffiti-removal team was dispatched to remove the graffiti and the Long Beach Police Department was investigating "to ensure those responsible will be held accountable," Richardson said.

"This is deeply concerning," Long Beach Pride interim president Elsa Martinez said. "Acts of hate are not something we expect to see in our own front yard, in a city like ours -- one where we have fought for decades to be seen, accepted and embraced as equal members of this community."

Pride is more than parades and celebrations, Martinez said. "It is about standing up for our right to live openly and fully, to share in all the privileges and freedoms that every American deserves. And we will continue to prevail."