Pride Niagara Chair Enzo De Divitiis is pleased that the Niagara Regional Police Services are treating the latest vandalism to Niagara-on-the-Lake’s rainbow crosswalk as a hate crime.
But to De Divitiis, it shouldn’t have taken four incidents for that to happen.
“In my mind it definitely was a hate crime from the start,” says De Divitiis. “If you’re not a part of a marginalized community, you don’t see the things that we do. I’ve seen the body language, heard the comments throughout my life. Others think that kind of stuff doesn’t happen here in Niagara. Well, it does.”
When the crosswalk at Anderson Lane and Mississagua Street was first vandalized in early June, just days after its installation, De Divitis told The Local, a sister publication of ThoroldToday, that he wasn’t at all surprised by the act. On the contrary, he and other members of Pride Niagara and the larger 2SLGBTQIA+ community in the region would have expected such an act to occur, as it has elsewhere in Niagara.
But four incidents in about two months is more than he’s seen in St. Catharines, for example, where a Pride crosswalk was installed on St. Paul Street in 2021. De Divitiis is a member of that city’s 2SLGBTQIA+ Advisory Committee.
Yet he says he could have predicted that last week’s fourth crime in NOTL was coming.
“The more you ignore the problem, the bigger it gets,” he says. “When the vandalism acts were just tire marks, people were thinking ‘maybe it’s just some kid horsing around’. No. Damage is damage, ignorance is ignorance and hate is hate. You have to deal with it or it will progress until someone gets the reaction they’re looking for.”
The fact that about 100 people showed up at the crosswalk for a demonstration of unity and support last Friday pleases De Divitiis. He wasn’t there for the gathering, though, and remains disappointed that no one contacted him to make him aware that it was happening.
But he’s hoping that the turnout convinces the Town to get more involved and ramp up their own response to the repeated damage and acts of hatred.
“It’s wonderful that the allies came out,” says De Divitiis, “but they’re not the ones who will have to clean that crosswalk or monitor it. Municipalities have to get on it. If this happened at city hall, I think they would find out who did it immediately. What if this happened at the mayor’s own house?”
He also expressed disappointment that there wasn’t a bigger presence from town council at Friday’s rally. Councillors Tim Balasiuk and Maria Mavridis were there, as well as town staff, but the absence of Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa and other members of council was glaring in his eyes.
“I’ve seen it at the flag raisings we have done across Niagara,” he says. “The mayors often don’t show up. We often only get the female council members instead. A lot of the old school guys don’t come out to those events. They should be there. This is the town, and you have to be there.”
Back in June, when the crosswalk was unveiled in a ceremony, Pride Niagara was not represented at the site. In fact, De Divitis said at the time that he didn’t even know the town had been planning to install one.
“It’s not their responsibility to get us to help with these kinds of things,” says De Divitiis. “But at the same time, there’s strength in numbers. They need to reach out to community members, invite us to be there. When Niagara College did their crosswalk, they reached out to every group in Niagara.”
Niagara’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community has seen the hatred against them ramp up across the region in recent months. De Divitiis explains that the increase has a lot to do with the fact that this marginalized group for many years didn’t have any kind of voice or presence.
“When we start to get some legitimacy, when we start to demand rights and dignity,” he says, “some people get upset. They say ‘how dare you speak up to me?’. That’s what makes them ask why they don’t get their own ‘straight flag’ or their own ‘straight crosswalk’.”
The symbolism of the Pride crosswalk is an important tool in the fight for equality.
“It’s an actual reminder,” explains De Divitiis, “to look in all directions. To look where you’re going. You actually have to pay attention. The fact that this is triggering you so much, that you have to acknowledge someone who may not look, act or live like you, that is a big problem.”
Ugly protests outside of venues holding drag queen events have become the norm. As well, in June, Pride Niagara joined others at both the Catholic and public school boards to counter-protest against anti-Pride demonstrators.
He warns that if this happens again in NOTL, and an even bigger group comes out to stand in unity and solidarity, they have to be ready for whatever might happen.
“With counter-protests, it’s very different,” he says. “The hate is right there, a quarter of an inch from your face, screaming at you, trying to start something violent with you. That’s the next step with something like this crosswalk. When you stand together, someone’s going to eventually come out to face you.”
