A gay couple in Corsicana is being targeted for their Pride display.
At the beginning of the month, Terry Garner and Keith Dowler hung up ten rainbow flags celebrating Pride outside their home. While the family was out of town, someone ripped the flags down and burned them.
"They had symbolically burned a Pride flag by our front door," Garner said. "Then burned the other nine down the sidewalk."
Garner said they quickly hung up more flags, but a couple of days ago, those were torn down, too.
"We really weren't shocked," Garner said. "But we thought we'd take an opportunity to use this to show people we're like everybody else. We just want to raise our daughter, we just want to be normal people and we want to be good citizens of the community."
He said they’ll keep hanging up flags and spreading their message of love. In fact, this past week they say the community has shown them more love than they have since the family moved from Dallas four years ago.
"After this incident, our faith has been renewed in the community," Garner said. "There are good people there."
Neighbors have been donating flags to them, sending bouquets of rainbow flowers their way and sharing words of encouragement. The community even raised more than $1,300 in reward money to help catch the vandal.
Garner said the vandal's plan backfired because the family feels more welcome now than ever before.
"Love always wins," Garner said. If you need a reminder, a banner sharing that very message is now proudly displayed outside the family's home.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow NewsRadio 1080 KRLD