NATOMAS, Sacramento — Natomas is known by many as a friendly, diverse Sacramento community. Recently though, the rainbow the Pride Flags that Douglas Pieper uses to decorate his neighborhood have been repeatedly torn down, every day for four days.
“So I put up flags on Sunday and came out Monday morning, and they were gone,” said Pieper. “So, I put up more flags, then the next morning they were gone. And so last night, I put up more flags, and they were ripped off the tree this morning.”
He says it’s especially upsetting because June is Pride Month, and he doesn’t like the example it sets for LGBTQ+ youth in the area.
“It definitely feels like a hate crime to me, because it feels targeted,” said Pieper. “It doesn’t send the right message and that’s not what Natomas is about.”
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Pipeper’s neighbor Alice Parente is also upset about the vandalism.
“It’s just a very malicious, malicious, unnecessary, hate-crime. Hateful thing to do,” said Parente.
She said Pieper and his husband decorate for every holiday.
“They decorate at Christmas time,” said Parente. “I think they decorate at Thanksgiving. They definitely decorate at Halloween [and] Easter. It’s very tasteful, very attractive. It’s not obtrusive.”
Pieper said no one has ever touched any of the other decorations. He also said he put up both Pride flags and 4th of July decorations simultaneously and only the rainbow flags were removed.
He says it’s not the first time in his life that he has felt targeted.
“I had death threats against my life,” Pieper said. “I took a body guard to homecoming that my dad hired, because they said they were going to beat me up if I showed up basically. And I showed up.”
He said those experiences have made him more determined.
“Whenever they rip it down every day, it’s time to show up again,” said Piepert. “So flags are going back up again tonight.”
Still, Pieper said he knows the perpetrator or perpetrators just need understanding.
“Yes, I’m angry, but I realize we have to communicate and figure out what’s going on,” Pieper said. “And so I’m hoping someone will see this and reach out and want to chat with me about it.”
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