'Love conquers all' says Wick High School teacher after Pride Month artwork is vandalised along church railings
A Wick High School teacher has hit back at vandals who damaged a Pride Month display in Wick by sending out a message that "love conquers all".
Peter Darmady, a member of St John the Evangelist Episcopal Church on Wick's Moray Street, created an artwork comprising of LGBT symbols on the railings outside as part the current Pride Month – a month in which all things lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) are celebrated.
In a previous article from a fortnight ago, Mr Darmady questioned whether a prior incident, in which part of the display had been removed, was blatant vandalism or just the act of someone taking a liking to the rainbow coloured heart and "cherishing it" as a keepsake.
"It was put up for Highland Pride Month to challenge the widespread belief that all Christians are homophobes, which is not the case," he said at the time. "We noticed that it had gone on the Friday and maybe someone just took a liking to it and has taken it home. There are a lot of gay people in Wick, so perhaps someone has it on their wall and is cherishing it – that's fine if it's the case actually."
However, last week the colourful display was targeted again and some pieces were torn away from the railings – a purple transgender symbol and another rainbow coloured heart like the one previously removed. Mr Darmady, who identifies as bisexual, now believes it was a bigoted attack on the artwork and said he was surprised there were "folk in Wick who are opposed to love".
"Love conquers all," he said. "We fight hate with love. The people who break things don't seem capable of making change without destruction. They want to change things but have to resort to vandalism and hate. Love is about building and growth. Let's hope that they too find love, friendship and companionship in their lives."
Mr Darmady says that St. John's church "welcomes all" and is not interested in your personal love life. "There are still a few people who think that heterosexual relationships are the only way. But we can see so much hypocrisy around the folk who shout this the loudest."
He has fixed up the display again and hopes it will remain untouched until the end of Pride Month next week. Pride Month is celebrated annually in June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan – a pivotal event for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States that caused ripples throughout the world.
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