St. Paul residents raise money to support local LGBTQ+ community after flag vandalism
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When Kristen Ostendorf walked outside her home last Tuesday morning and saw her LGBTQ+ pride flag ripped up, she thought the culprit was a strong gust of wind. Then, she saw her flag pole broken in four equal pieces.
“I never expected something like this to happen in St. Paul,” said the Macalester-Groveland resident.
She filed a police report and put up a new flag pole and pride flag. Then, at least four of her neighbors started putting flags and signs on their front yards.
“A 400 percent return on an act of violence is a pretty good statement that tearing up our flag isn’t going to make us go away,” said Ostendorf, laughing. “I want other people to know that the world’s got them … we’re in this deal together.”
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The St. Paul Police Department has received 30 reports of vandalism of flags (mostly Pride flags) since June 23. Many of the incidents happened in the Macalester-Groveland and Highland Park neighborhoods. Some homeowners have footage of the vandalism, but the police department has yet to make an arrest.
As news of the vandalism spread around neighborhood Facebook groups, local residents Michelle and Anna, who requested MPR News only use their first names for safety reasons, decided to step up.
Highland Park resident Michelle has given out over 150 pride flags and signs in the past week and raised over $800 in donations for the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention nonprofit dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth.
“When I started giving out flags … I realized how many people are kind and caring, and I was just blown away at the number of people that said nice things [and] came by to support,” she said.
In Macalester-Groveland, Anna started a GoFundMe to raise money to print pride flags and signs that she will give away for free. Local business see carrie collor will design the yard signs.
Anna was inspired by a similar fundraiser in West St. Paul in 2023.
“I think a lot of people are feeling their sense of security and acceptance being eroded by Trump’s policies and his supporters, and people are looking for a way to respond,” she said. “One of my hopes is that this gives people a doorway into feeling like they can enact change, even if it is in this really small way.”
Any remaining donations are going towards RECLAIM, a St. Paul nonprofit that works to increase access to mental health resources for queer and transgender youth. The fundraiser has raised over $7,700.
Anna said it felt good to be able to bring good news while the community was recovering from something painful.
“There’s a lot more support for queer and trans folks than there are voices of hate and oppression. So that feels really good to know,” she said.
Michelle and Anna are thinking about turning their projects into a longer initiative and they’re working together to discuss next steps.
“We need to send a message that we aren’t a hateful neighborhood. We have hope that there will be a better future for LGBTQ people,” said Michelle.
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