A Tillsonburg business owner is making waves on social media by shining a light on homophobia after her storefront was vandalized earlier this week.
Indigo Lounge Wellness Centre owner Kelly Spencer took to her Facebook page Tuesday evening, penning a letter to the community with photos of heavily damaged Pride Progress flags she had hanging at her business and a threatening note left in a plastic sandwich bag.
Spencer explained that she arrived at her business Tuesday morning when she discovered the damage. She believes the incident was well thought out and targeted due to the contents written in the letter and the nature of the vandalism.
"When I went to the flags, they had been taken down, but then pinned back up on the fence in a different location," Spencer told LondonNewsToday.ca. "They had been slashed, burned holes in them and rubbed with mud or dirt, or something brown."
The note left for Spencer to discover contained homophobic slurs directed at her, calling her a "f ----t supporter."
Spencer said the author of the note threatened her, stating that harm would come to her if she chose to continue to support the LGBTQ+ community.
"[They] said what happened to the flags would be an allegory of what would happen to my home," Spencer said, calling the experience "traumatizing".
A threatening note left in a sandwich bag next to vandalized Pride flags at Indigo Lounge in Tillsonburg. Photo by Kelly Spencer via Facebook.
The items have since been taken as evidence by the Oxford County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). Spencer said she fully intends to put new ones up and said she has received an outpouring of support from the community, including numerous donations of new Pride/Diversity flags and offers to install video surveillance.
Spencer believes it is important to call out homophobia in any form and hopes that sharing her experience, will motivate people to call out acts of hate and discrimination when they see them.
"It is not enough any longer to just be not homophobic, or not racist, or not sexist," Spencer said. "Hate of all kinds, even if you're not speaking it, if you're hanging out around it and not speaking up about it, then it is a way of condoning and allowing it."
To keep the conversation going, Spencer said she plans to hold a round table discussion next week and has heard from various community partners and leaders such as Tillsonburg Mayor Stephen Molnar, Tourism and Pride Oxford, the Oxford County OPP and social workers.
Provincial police continue to investigate.
This instance is the latest in a string of related incidents in and around the region. Earlier this month, a 47-year-old Tillsonburg man and a 16-year-old from Norwich were charged by the OPP after several Pride flags were stolen or vandalized in Norwich Township.