Michigan couple believes home was vandalized over trans pride flag
The women have had their windows broken and a trans flag ripped in half in what they claim is targeted harassment
A transgender woman in Allendale, Mich., suspects that her trans pride flag may have been the catalyst for a series of violent attacks on her property.
Jady Morelli has lived in Allendale with her partner Amy Russell for over twelve years, but says their home has been vandalized repeatedly since they erected the trans flag.
In addition, the couple has signs in their front yard supporting both state and local Democratic candidates running in the upcoming election, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden.
“Ever since we put the transgender flag up, we’ve had our property vandalized and it’s a hard thing to go through,” Morelli told NBC affiliate WOOD-TV. “It just brings it right home that there are people out there who want to hurt you for who you are.”
The couple claims that earlier this month they had a front window broken by what sounded like a bullet, saying they heard “the sound of glass breaking” and found a small hole in their screen and a portion of the window shattered.
“This is assault and it could’ve killed someone,” Russell said.
Although the Ottawa County Sheriff’s office is looking into the alleged acts of vandalism, they have suggested that the cause could be target practice, which occurs in the area.
However, the couple insist that the attacks on their property are intentional displays of aggression and intimidation, given their repeated occurrence.
They claim that a mailbox that they installed for a neighbor on their property, due to how their mail is collected, was smashed only a few days after it was set up.
In 2017, another trans flag installed above their front door was ripped in half, and last year, their window shutters, which are painted in the colors of the trans flag, were torn from the property.
Morelli told WOOD-TV that everybody “should and has the right to express themselves. This is not meant to be a threat to anybody. It’s just a statement to other people out there like me: We exist.”
Russell added that the flag was “for other trans people, especially trans kids in this community.”
“They need to know they’re not alone,” she continued. “Jady grew up knowing what it’s like to feel alone.”
Earlier this month, a British elementary school teacher said that he and husband had been left “emotionally and psychologically” drained after enduring months of homophobic attacks on their home.
In Philadelphia, a transgender woman who was attacked by a mob inside her home in August claimed this month that police officers who responded to her home were “belligerent and unsympathetic,” and that one sergeant even laughed at her while she “bled onto the floor.”
Read more:
Hundreds of thousands of trans and nonbinary people could face obstacles in voting
A 6-3 Supreme Court could carve out various exemptions that erode LGBTQ rights
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