'Wonderful Community': Town Organizes New Pride Tree After Vandalism

SOUTHOLD, NY — A show of unity for the students at Southold High School whose pride flag was vandalized recently grew stronger Monday as the town welcomed a second, brand-new tree at Silversmith's Corner, which the kids decorated.

The North Fork community turned out in force recently show that acts of hatred will not be tolerated, as they redecorated a pride tree that had been vandalized on Main Road.

Earlier in December, pride flags that were used by Southold High School students to decorate a Christmas tree on Main Road were stripped away just hours after the kids finished decorating

John Myers, an English as a New Language teacher at Southold High School who also advises the Students' Alliance for Equality and Respect, or SAFER, club, and the international clubs, turned to social media to express his dismay.

But days later, the community had rallied, redecorating the tree in a show of love and acceptance.

Myers wrote on social media: "Apparently, community members who had heard about what happened to us have been dropping by the tree today to add a little cheer. This is what the tree looks like currently. My heart is full!"

Immediately after the first tree was vandalized, Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell extended an offer to have the students place a second pride tree at Silversmith's Corner on Main Road.

"From a pragmatic perspective, the greater visibility may offer more protection from vandalism," Russell said. "More importantly, locating it on a town park central in the village will make it clear that, as a community, we will support each other and won't be deterred by some petty thieves and vandals.

On Monday, Myers spoke about the new tree on social media: "Capping off our own little Christmas story: The students of Southold’s SAFER club put an exclamation point on this Christmas tree saga this afternoon by decorating a brand-new tree at Southold’s Silversmith Corner Park where we had the opportunity to meet some of the wonderful community members who’ve supported us in the days following the vandalism of our original tree."

The tree was donated by Imbriano Farms in Cutchogue, and the space in Silversmith's Corner, by Russell, Myers said.

"We had about 70 people in attendance, including Mr. Russell, and many of the people who supported us over the last week and a half. It was nice for myself, and for the kids, to actually meet some of these people, face-to-face, all who were incredibly kind, supportive, and generous," he said.

People brought ornaments with them, and both the Mattituck Gay Straight Alliance and the Peconic Community School had kids students make ornaments for the tree.

"It was truly amazing," Myers said.

He added: "We were deeply touched by every single one of those who came out to stand in solidarity with us on this joyful afternoon. Today, you sent a statement that we will not tolerate hate on the North Fork. Thank you all again and have a very Merry Christmas!"

Myers told Patch, after the first outpouring of love: "I speak for myself and the rest of the group when I say that we are humbled by the response of the community to this event. In a little over 24 hours, we went from despair and disappointment to elation at how the people in our own community came together in such a big way to support us. We’re overwhelmed by the many gestures people have made, especially those who dropped by to add their own little tokens of cheer to our tree. To all of them, we offer our sincerest appreciation."

In just a day, the town showed an outpouring of love worthy of any beloved Christmas movie. They acted in response to Myers' initial Facebook post after the tree was defaced.

"This afternoon, I took both of the clubs I run at school —the International Club and SAFER — into town to decorate two Christmas trees we had volunteered to adorn for the season. It was a great hour-and- a-half filled with camaraderie, laughs, and enjoyment of the task at hand on a beautiful, sunny afternoon, and we were proud of the job we did, believing they were now two of the coolest trees in town."

A few hours later, Myers said, he drove through town on his way home and noticed the tree that SAFER had decorated had been "messed with. Someone took it upon themselves to remove the garland of pride flags that we had put on it to represent our club. It was disheartening, to say the least — and certainly no longer as beautiful!"

About six or seven years ago, the school changed the name of its Gay Straight Alliance, or GSA, club to SAFER, he said. "We believed these words best represented our club. That is not how we were treated today. It is almost 2023 — and we are still fighting this fight. Why?"

He added: "At the moment, we have no idea who removed any markings from the tree that represented our club, but we as a group refuse to cower down and hide because there are people out there who don’t believe LGBTQ+ people and their allies deserve to exist, much less be seen in public. Hate has no place in this world. All we wish is that karma do its magic on those who expressed their disdain for our little expression of holiday cheer by removing it from sight. Shame on you!"

Myers told Patch the response from the community has been overwhelmingly supportive and both his students and he were greatly appreciative.

"Those initial feelings of helplessness and disappointment that we felt in the immediate aftermath of the incident have given way to a certain security and comfort in knowing that we are not alone and the great majority of our fellow community members have our backs," Myers said. "It has become clear that whoever chose to do this despicable act of vandalism is not representative of this community whatsoever."

Southold School Superintendent Dr. Anthony J. Mauro responded: "We are all very proud of our students and we are hurt by the negative actions of these people. The overwhelmingly positive response from our community shows that it is not something that reflects the feelings of the Southold community. We are grateful for our students and our community."

Russell also condemned the actions of whoever stole the flags. "This is an extremely disturbing act that runs counter to everything the holiday season stands for."

Resident Ian Wile said he wanted students to know they are not alone. "There are so many people, from all walks of life and orientation, who are here to support them. They shouldn't feel anything but empowered and, perhaps, reminded of the importance of their efforts."

Myers said he wanted to personally thank all of those who were as outraged by the act as they were and who reached out with words of comfort and support, "showing that they will not tolerate this hateful intolerance in their community. Thank you."

Sonia Spar, co-chair of the Southold Anti-Bias Task Force also spoke out after the tree was defaced. "I’m disheartened," she told Patch. " But this is an opportunity for us to come together and help them build up the tree again. The acronym is 'SAFER'. We all need to feel safe in our community."

She added: "This is never acceptable. We can never be complacent. We need to come together and show our support."

The flag was decorated by students, Spar said. "They are our future. We need to come together to support them and say this was not okay, but we're building it again. We need to be there for our kids and show them by example how we need to live in our community."