California Community Rebuilds Church’s Rainbow Display After Vandals Destroy It
During a church’s service, neighbors got together and put the damaged doors back up.
A display showing a rainbow-colored door was allegedly vandalized over the weekend at a church in Fresno, California. It’s the second time the display has been damaged.
Sitting outside the Big Red Church in Fresno’s Tower, the outdoor installation reads, “God’s Doors Are Open To All,” according to local news outlet KSEE/KGPE. It was supposed to be a symbol of the church’s inclusive message.
“These doors weren’t just built by a congregation, they were built by kids, teens, and adults who believe that the Big Red Church and its doors are open to everyone,” the church said in an Instagram post.
The church’s Rev. Simon Biasell told the outlet that he received a call from a staff member early Sunday morning who told him the display had been smashed and knocked over.
“This is unfortunately not the first time that these doors have been vandalized. It happened earlier this summer as well,” he said.
Biasell told the outlet that church members had to step across the damaged display to attend Sunday service.
But even though it was damaged, the rainbow doors were reinstalled by the church’s neighbors as the church conducted its service.
“By the time everybody exited church, our neighbors had reinstalled the doors and put it back up, which is one of the wonderful things about this neighborhood, the Tower District,” Biasell said.
KSEE/KGPE reports that the Big Red Church has been around for almost 80 years, and it’s been an affirming congregation to LGBTQ+ people for more than 30. The church welcomes people of every religious background, sexual orientation, family composition, physical and mental ability, race, age, and gender.
“We want them to be in our church, and we want them to thrive,” Biasell said.
He said that the church has been the target of anti-LGBTQ+ abuse in the past.
“Our church members unfortunately have gotten used to that kind of hate language, that treatment,” Biasell said. “So while this wasn’t anything new, it’s still painful to experience that kind of treatment.”
Local authorities are not investigating it as a hate crime, though a police report has been filed, according to local media.
“A door can be knocked down in a moment, but it takes a whole community to build one back up. They left a mark,” the church wrote on social media. “We’ll leave a brighter one.”
