Gay bar landlord orders giant rainbow flag in memory of Orlando be taken down
The landlord of a Canadian gay bar which put up a rainbow flag in memory of Orlando, following a mass shooting there at the weekend, has ordered that it be taken down.
The owner of the Twisted Element bar in Calgary, Canada, RayJean Fafard, said the building’s landlord ordered that the giant rainbow flag be taken down.
But Fafard says the flag was put up in solidarity with Orlando after 49 people were killed and another 53 were injured in a shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
“It’s extremely important,” Fafard told the Calgary Sun on Wednesday.
“I’ve been getting emails from like 16- and 17-year-olds,” he added.
“We’re not just flying it for us. We’re flying it for people who can’t express their emotions of being gay.”
The landlord says that Fafard didn’t seek permission to hang the flag, which violates the lease agreement.
Trevor Tomanik, the building’s owner, directed inquiries to his lawyer, former minister of justice and solicitor general of Alberta Jonathan Denis.
Denis released a statement saying the flag blocked some windows on the second floor of the building, and that the tenant there had complained.
“It has been our pleasure to have Twisted Element bar as our tenant for almost 10 years,” said Tomanik.
“We are willing to work with Twisted Element and the LGBTQ community to develop a compromise where they can display their pride flag without covering windows of other tenants.”
Watch a video of the flag being taken down below:
49 people were killed and 53 injured on Sunday in the shocking terrorist hate crime attack, which saw a gunman open fire inside The Pulse gay bar in Orlando, Florida.
ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the attack, which was perpetrated by US citizen Omar Mateen. The majority of the victims were Latino.
In a statement, President Obama mourned the victims of the homophobic hate crime attack and called for greater restrictions on arms sales.
In response, Republican nominee Donald Trump said Obama should resign for failing to rally against Islam in his comments.
The attack has been condemned by American Muslim leaders, who addressed ISIS in saying: “You do not speak for us.”
But millions of people around the world have showed solidarity with the victims of the shooting and the community in Orlando,
A GoFundMe page for victims of the Orlando gay club mass shooting on Sunday, was the fastest ever page to reach $1 million, and now stands at more than $4 million.
