A transgender flag with significant historical value has been stolen from a Burnaby home this week. Leada Stray, the owner of the flag, is devastated after finding it missing from his window where it has been hanging since 2019. The flag has been in his possession since the early 2000s and has a special connection to its creator. Monica Helms designed the flag in 1999 and recommended Stray to buy it from the iconic Little Sister’s bookstore in Vancouver. The flag has been carried by Stray worldwide, seeing historical advancements in trans and queer rights, and has grown in significance. It was signed by Monica Helms in New York City in 2019, as a final symbol of its long life, and was hung in Stray’s window.
Stray came home on Wednesday to find the flag missing, and the sliding window had been jammed sideways, leading him to suspect delivery drivers or Canada Post workers may have taken the flag. Security footage shows the delivery people on the property, but it did not capture the moment the flag was taken down. Stray did not report the theft to the RCMP as he feels that without evidence, the police would be unwilling or unable to pursue the matter. He also felt unsafe dealing with the police as a transgender person.
The incident comes amid a rising tide of hate directed at the LGBTQ2 community in Canada and the United States. Police-reported hate crimes based on sexual orientation rose nearly 60 per cent between 2019 and 2021 to the highest level in five years, according to Statistics Canada. LGBTQ2 advocates in Canada have raised the alarm about a surge in online attacks, while angry protests have popped up at events such as all-ages drag queen storytimes.
Stray is asking for the flag’s return, no questions asked, and has reached out to Amazon, UPS, and Canada Post, asking them to send a message to drivers who were on the property asking for any information, including whether they saw the flag and what time they last saw it hanging. He has since bought a new flag and hung it in the same window. He told Global News that the only way to fight back against hate is to keep being who he is, saying, “They can take every flag I put up, it is not going to change who I am and it’s not going to change what I do.”