Vandals shattered the windows of a half-dozen queer-affirming businesses across Denver over the weekend, according to a local activist group.
Parasol Patrol, a Denver-area organization formed to protect children from hateful speech at protests, described the weekend incidents as a “coordinated pattern of targeted attacks” and “efforts to make queer visibility dangerous.”
“We at Parasol Patrol are deeply alarmed by this escalation in violence toward queer spaces in our city,” the organization said in the statement. “These attacks… are intimidation designed to push LGBTQIA+ people, families, and especially youth-serving organizations back into fear and isolation.”
Six LGBTQ+-supporting businesses were hit Friday and Saturday, Parasol Patrol spokesperson Pasha Ripley said in an email to The Denver Post on Tuesday. No suspects had been identified as of Tuesday afternoon.
The updated list of targeted businesses includes a RiNo gym, an LGBTQ+ community center, a barbershop near the University of Denver campus, a boutique, a queer-owned hair salon in LoDo and a lesbian bar.
As of Monday, Denver police could only verify damage at two of the locations: The Center on Colfax and a business in the 2000 block of South University Street. Windows were broken at both locations, Denver police spokesperson Jay Casillas said in an email to the Post.
Police do not believe the two cases are connected, but both incidents remain under investigation, Casillas said. He did not respond to questions about whether the incidents are being investigated as bias-motivated crimes.
John Taylor, the vice president of development at The Center on Colfax, said he isn’t sure which would be worse — if the attacks were a coordinated effort by one group on LGBTQ+ organizations or if there were multiple isolated attacks, indicating a spike in violence toward the queer community.
Police were only able to verify the two attacks because those businesses were the only two to file damage reports, Taylor said. Center staff are encouraging the others to file reports, he said.
“We need to shine a light on what’s happening and create momentum,” Taylor said. But, he added, people shouldn’t take the vigilante route. Anyone with information is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
An unidentified suspect threw a large rock at three of the front windows of The Center on Colfax early Saturday morning, attempting to shatter them, according to a statement from Kim Salvaggio, the LGBTQ+ community center’s CEO.
Security video from the Center shows the suspect approaching the building shortly after 3:20 a.m. Saturday. In the video, the man walks through the parking lot and up the building’s front steps before pulling the large rock out of his pocket and smashing it into the windows and glass door at least five times.
On the last hit, the man appears to throw the rock and watch it ricochet off the window and clatter to the ground before jogging back down the steps and out of the camera’s view. He fled the scene before police arrived.
The attack triggered the Center’s alarm and police responded, but staff didn’t find out about the damage until a program coordinator arrived later that morning, Taylor said.
“As a community, we know that these moments are not simply random acts of mischief,” Salvaggio stated. “While we may never know the intent behind this vandalism, we understand it within a broader history of attacks and intimidation that our community has faced.”
The Center canceled its Saturday programming, but Salvaggio said no future events will be affected.
Center staff boarded up the damaged windows with planks bearing messages, including “You won’t break our soul” and “Broken windows never break community.” The boards will remain while the windows are repaired and the Center makes unspecified upgrades to its security.
Piper Fierce, the owner of GAZE den, a Denver boutique in City Park, said her car window and several others outside of her business were smashed in on Friday. She said she used to fly an LGBTQ+ flag outside, but it recently disappeared. A sign declaring her support for the LGBTQ+ community was still displayed in the shop’s window.
Fierce arrived at the store at about 6 p.m. Friday. By the time she left, between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., a rock had been thrown through the window of her car. Nothing was taken and the vehicle wasn’t stolen, she said. Her door wasn’t even locked, she said — it seemed to be just about causing damage.
Other cars on the street had shattered windows or cracked windshields, but they were all parked on a stretch directly outside of her store, Fierce said.
She said she called the police, but didn’t file a report. Ultimately, Fierce decided to get the window fixed by herself.
“I’m passionate about serving in a queer-centered way because the community has experienced a lot of pain,” Fierce said. “Now I feel emboldened, and even more passionate.”
In a joint statement, the Colorado Democratic Party, Stonewall Democrats of Colorado and the Democratic Party of Denver called the series of attacks “an assault on Colorado’s values.”
“We stand with the LGBTQ+ owners, workers and community members whose livelihoods and sense of safety were targeted,” the statement continued. “Hate has no place in Colorado. … We will respond with solidarity, strength and action.”
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