ManitobaA rural Manitoba Pride committee say they’re angry that the community’s rainbow crosswalk was painted over in an act of vandalism, but they’re optimistic that the incident will galvanize support and lead to more conversations about the rights of LGBTQIA2S+ people. Community members in Souris say they woke up to the destroyed crosswalk on SaturdayDave Baxter · CBC News · Posted: Nov 03, 2025 7:40 PM EST | Last Updated: 8 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesMembers of the Souris Pride Committee say the community’s rainbow crosswalk was covered with white paint in an act of vandalism. (Submitted by Marley Dewar)A rural Manitoba Pride committee say they’re angry that the community’s rainbow crosswalk was painted over in an act of vandalism, but they’re optimistic that the incident will galvanize support and lead to more conversations about the rights of LGBTQIA2S+ people. “If you are not part of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, you might forget how much homophobia and transphobia still exists within Canadian society,” Souris resident Marley Dewar said on Sunday. “It’s gotten better. It’s quite different from the 90’s and the early 2000’s, but I’m definitely seeing a swing back the wrong way.”On Saturday morning, residents in the community of Souris, located about 34 kilometres southwest of Brandon, woke up to learn that the rainbow crosswalk located at First Street South and Crescent Avenue West had been covered with white paint.The rainbow crosswalk in Souris after it was touched up earlier this year. (Submitted by Marley Dewar)Dewar, who lives in the community with their wife and the couple’s son, said although this is not the first act of vandalism they have seen directed at the crosswalk, it is one of the most concerning.“Waking up on Saturday morning to find that it had been completely destroyed, I can’t even begin to describe the feeling,” Dewar said. “While we have had online comments, and people have tried to graffiti on it before, nothing really major has happened to it.“So to wake up to see this was just devastating for a multitude of reasons.” Dewar says every year, their six-year-old son Iain helps to paint the crosswalk, which has been repainted each spring since 2021, and it was difficult to have a conversation with him about the possible motives behind the vandalism. “He just understands that that Pride crosswalk is a symbol of love and inclusion, and he gets really excited about it every year, and takes great pride in it,” Dewar said “And unfortunately we had to explain to him, at six, that it was destroyed, and why somebody might do that.Iain Dewar is seen helping to paint the Souris rainbow crosswalk earlier this year. The crosswalk was painted over in an act of vandalism over the weekend. (Submitted by Marley Dewar)“With the world we live in, I know that at some point this was a conversation we were going to have, I just wish that it didn’t happen so soon.”Members of Souris’s Pride committee say they believe the crosswalk was painted over sometime on late Friday, or very early on Saturday, when many in the community would have been asleep.Dewar says despite their frustration, the support they’ve received from community members since the vandalism has only strengthened the committee’s resolve, and said the crosswalk will be repainted. “It probably won’t happen before the snow falls unfortunately, but even though it’s been vandalized, it’s only going to make us stronger,” Dewar said. “And online we’ve had quite a bit of support already, including people offering to donate the paint, donate their time, and to help us remake the Pride crosswalk.“One one hand, we really need to have a conversation about what’s going on, and on the other hand it’s really nice to see the outpouring of outrage, and support for our community.”Same weekend as weddingCommunity members say they were also concerned because the act of vandalism happened on the same weekend that a queer social/wedding was taking place in the community, and some wonder if the incident was related to that wedding. Souris resident Manon Beaupre, who was married in that wedding, which took place Friday, told CBC Radio Up to Speed’s Chloe Friesen it was difficult to go from the high of the wedding Friday evening, to the low of seeing the destroyed crosswalk the next morning.She said like Dewar, however, she has also been inspired by the support the community has been showing to the Pride committee since the incident. “People have been advocating on Facebook that the town do more, that the crosswalk be repainted, and that we show more concrete support, and that has meant the world,” she said. In a Saturday media release, the council with the RM of Souris-Glenwood, where the community is located, condemned the incident. “The Mayor and Council are saddened to see the vandalism of the Pride crosswalk,” the release says. “This kind of action doesn’t reflect who we are as a community. Disagreements can always be shared in respectful and constructive ways — damaging community spaces helps no one. Let’s choose kindness and respect for one another.”Beaupre however, said she feels the statement did not go far enough.“Instead of hearing that vandalism is bad and people shouldn’t do it, I’d like to hear something more explicit,” she said.“You don’t have to go to LGBTQIA2S+ events, you don’t have to approve, you don’t even have to like it, but you have to make space for it, because it is a protected right.”Members of the Souris Pride Committee said they have not yet decided yet if they will make a RCMP report, and RCMP said they had received no reports about the incident as of Monday. ABOUT THE AUTHORDave Baxter is an award-winning reporter and editor currently working for CBC Manitoba. Born and raised in Winnipeg, he has also previously reported for the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press, as well as several rural Manitoba publications.With files from Chloe Friesen
Destruction of Pride crosswalk leads to outrage and support in rural Manitoba
