Homophobes vandalised the Christmas decorations of a gay couple in California. Two gingerbread men holding hands were smeared with faeces and placed under the waving rainbow flag. The police chief calls it a hate crime.

Brian Kleinmeyer and his friend Daniel Kain wanted to create queer visibility and Christmas spirit at the same time. So they put two hand-holding gingerbread men in their front yard as Christmas decorations – along with the Pride flag. Love, sweets, Christmas – no one can object to that? Sadly, they do.

This week, the couple were shocked to discover that someone had vandalised the decorations outside their home in Eureka, California, during the night. An animal? Hardly. The gingerbread men had been ripped out of the ground, smeared with faeces and dumped at the feet of the rainbow flag. Brian Kleinmeyer expressed his horror at this on Facebook:

“They literally ripped them out of the ground, and wiped their asses with them, and carefully laid them at the base of our Pride Flag… I thought things might get stolen, but never in a million years did I think this would happen. I’m completely in shock”

According to Kleinmeyer, this is the second time their decorations have been vandalised. He told the Lost Coast Outpost newspaper that the first time, the Christmas sleigh was broken in half and the Christmas lights were tangled. Kleinmeyer stated:

““I just want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else or, if it already has, that they feel empowered enough to speak up about it”

Police chief speaks of hate crime

Granted, there might be people who find the story amusing in some way – possibly including the perpetrators themselves? Fortunately, Eureka Police Chief Steve Watson sees it completely differently. For him, the incident is an attack on the freedom of every American to love who they want.

In an update under his Facebook post, the injured party, Brian Kleinmeyer, reported:

“We received a call from Chief Watson informing us that he fully intends to charge whoever did this with a hate crime.”

Police Chief Watson told the Lost Coast Outpost that the crime was an absolutely horrific and appalling thing to do, clarifying:

““It’s very clear in my mind this was a deliberate act based on the suspect’s perception of [the victims’] sexual orientation.”

If caught, the person or persons responsible for the shitty action now faces up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

Unfortunately, nothing is known about the state of health of the gingerbread men.

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