A letter from San Juan County Council to community regarding recent hate speech

Council issues letter condemning hate and discrimination in response to the recent tagging of a local LGBTQ+ pride display

||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS |||

This past June, during Pride month, which was acknowledged by the county council through Proclamation, unknown individuals painted over a local LGBTQ+ Pride display. This is in the context of the almost immediate covering of similar displays the previous two years. And this year, it descended to a new low when it was tagged with a Nazi swastika.

This hate symbol represents the murderous program that extinguished the lives of six million Jews, Gay men, and other marginalized people. Although the symbol was removed after two days, the act itself is deeply troubling. It shows that someone felt emboldened to commit such a hateful act within our own community—reminding us that we must continue to make clear that this type of behavior has no place here.

Harmful actions like this affect all San Juan County residents. It appears to be an attack not only on our LGBTQ+ neighbors but also a profoundly painful one for our Jewish community members. As the late great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated so effectively in his widely known “Letter from the Birmingham Jail,” “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” The San Juan County Council stands united with our LGBTQ+ and Jewish neighbors in condemning this act of hate.

In 2020, the Council adopted a resolution affirming its commitment to fostering a safe and inclusive community for all residents, employees, and elected officials—regardless of race, color, national origin, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, marital status, age, military status, disability, or immigration status. The resolution recognized that our community could overcome the fear and misinformation that fuel hate, and that we must never enable those who promote and act on it.

The values and principles of this resolution were adopted by a majority of San Juan County’s electorate as a specific clause (10.60) on ‘Non-Discrimination’ in the county’s local Charter. Through this vote of the people in late 2021, non-discrimination was established as a foundational and guiding principle for the San Juan County government and those who live here to uphold.

We ask our residents and visitors to this beautiful county to join us in upholding these critical values and principles of non-discrimination in our community. Speak out when you witness intolerance, support neighbors who are targeted, and help to foster a culture where every person feels safe and respected. Acts of hate will not be tolerated in our community.

In solidarity,

Kari McVeigh, District 1

Justin Paulsen, District 2, County Council Chair

Jane Fuller, District 3