Respect not fear
I was troubled to read about the Pride flag being town down on the Green in Windsor. I heard about it on Facebook first and throughout the comments we revisited the vandalized Menorah, vandalized wall at Cali and stolen baby Jesuses at Christmas, several taken from people’s lawns.
There is no group untouched here in Windsor. I would plead with every particle of my being to ingrain this saying into our hearts, “We don’t have to agree on anything to be kind to each other.” Really. We don’t. Let’s make Windsor a safe place for everyone.Â
To call these hate crimes seems to add fuel to the fire. These are fear crimes. People who fear that they will not be respected or safe if another group is displaying their symbol or system will resort to fearful tactics. When we truly commit to respecting each other we can defend each other as friends. We can do this in our homes and in our town. We need to consider all of our thoughts, jokes, and actions.
Heather Cullen
Windsor
Proud of Pride
Editor:
Thank you for your June 27 front page article on the Pride flag vandalism.
This was very sad to read about and I appreciate your paper offering the topic front page along with photos of joyful Pride. Thanks for the courage of the women who asked the town council to put up the flag, the town for saying yes and following up with Pride lighting once the vandalism took place.
Hopefully, this will be used as a teachable moment due to your paper’s coverage and helping law enforcement seek the vandals. It is wonderful to know the town and so many others appreciate and honor the LGBTQ residents of Windsor.
On another note, I am curious if Gary Quackenbush or other authors, editors or special writers, can write on other Faith Communities in and around Windsor. It seems Mr. Quackenbush’s regular column just covers what seems like white, conservative Christian churches.
I would be surprised if Windsor and nearby towns do not have Latino, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim or Progressive Christian or alternative Faith Communities.
Lisa McCally
Windsor
