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Police notified after Canal Street murals vandalised with vile homophobic graffiti
The horrendous attacks have come during pride month
This weekend saw Manchester’s famed LGBTQ+ friendly neighbourhood, Canal Street fall victim to a spate of homophobic vandalism.
Disgusting abuse was scrawled over two murals, one dedicated to Manchester drag queen Foo Foo Lammar and the other to legendary gay codebreaker, Alan Turing.
A third mural of Ru Paul’s Drag Race drag queen Divina de Campo, believed to be on Richmond Street, was also defaced.
Pictures taken and posted onto social media yesterday showed the words ‘dirty b******s’ written over the murals, along with the number ‘666.’
City centre councillor Jon-Connor Lyons, who represents the Piccadilly Ward, slammed the ‘cowards’ responsible and said he would be speaking to police over the matter.
He wrote on Twitter: “Absolutely disgusted to hear that someone has vandalised our Gay Village with homophobic language, which is specifically targeting our LGBTQ+ community.
“They are nothing but cowards. We are a tolerant city and Mancunians won’t stand for this.
“We’ll be speaking with GMP.”
Local LGBT+ community and politicians were also left ‘outraged and disgusted’ after the beloved murals were defaced.
Councillor Pat Karney, secretary of the Manchester Labour Group, described the vandalism as ‘disgraceful,’ and promised: “We will get it cleaned off ASAP.”
Joanne Roney, chief executive of Manchester City Council, added: “Absolutely. We will.”
Greater Manchester Police have been notified on the spike in vandalism, however they are yet to address the incidents publicly.
For more information on LGBTQ+ charities and foundations here in Manchester, visit the LGBT Foundation website here.