Vandalized Pride Tree Redecorated By Community: 'My Heart Is Full'

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

Last week, 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 Friday to express his dismay.

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

Although he was not in Southold on Sunday, Myers wrote on social media: "I am being kept in the loop by my SAFER members and our president Sara just sent me this photo. 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!"

Myers told Patch: "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. Merry Christmas!"

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 last week.

"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 last week: "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."

Southold Town Supervisor Scott 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. "I’m disheartened," she told Patch. "I believe that this is the moment the entire community needs to show the love and respect that we have for every member of our community. 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."

Spar said she intends to visit the tree, which is located on Main Road, and place a pride flag or an ornament in support.

"This is our responsibility," Spar said. "I don’t want to respond with anger or hatred I need to respond with love toward those who are not feeling safe — and each one of us in our community need to ensure we all feel safe, feel the love and support for whoever we are, however we decide to be, or to look. There is no place for hate in our community."

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."