Gainesville- Someone spray painted an anti-gay slur onto a campaign sign for Helen Warren, an openly gay candidate for the Gainesville City Commission.
The vandalism was found Feb. 13 on a sign placed outside of a Warren supporter’s house. The word “DYKE” was sprayed in black over the blue and white campaign sign. The homeowners filed a police report.
Warren, who is a realtor with Prudential Trend Realty and is running for Gainesville City Commission At-Large Seat 2, will be the first lesbian on the Gainesville City Commission if elected. She’s already been an active member of Gainesville’s political community for several years, working toward environmental and wildlife protection and for LGBT equality.
“It’s just a reflection of how there are some people who are fearful of the LGBT people and their rights in this community,” Warren said.
Warren said that the night after the vandalism, the homeowners also had their mailbox broken. Mallory Wells, with Equality Florida, posted about the vandalism on Facebook and said “this kind of hate and intimidation is unacceptable.”
Warren said that despite the incident, the homeowners did replace the vandalized sign with a new one.
