Rainbow flag thefts have escalated to vandalism in Draper couple’s home

A year and a half ago, Jeffrey Wright and Bryce Abplanalp bought the largest rainbow flag and the largest pole they could find and planted them in their Draper yard.

“We … decided to buy the biggest Pride flag we could find & fly it in our yard — in a location where it could be seen by thousands of passing cars a day & hundreds of kids as they used a nearby park,” they shared on their Instagram page labeled @growingupwithdads. “Our hope was that people, kids specifically, would see it & feel loved. That they’d feel seen. That they’d feel a sense that their life was worth living, and that we’re all greater when we celebrate the things that make us different. That some day, maybe not today, they’d feel proud of who they are.”

They placed the flag at the very back of their yard, near a fence that borders a neighborhood park with a baseball field and tennis courts. It was also visible from a well-traveled street.

A year ago, they posted that someone entered their yard and stole the flag.

“While we were out of town, celebrating our kids’ birthdays and vacationing with family, someone broke into our yard, lowered our flag pole, and stole our Pride flag,” they wrote. “Now, we don’t feel safe in our own home. Yes, it’s just a flag and it doesn’t equate to the other recent attacks on the LGBT community, too many to go into detail here. It’s easy to see the news reports and think how those kind of things don’t happen in our community, but just recently, an LGBT youth was attacked and assaulted in the community where we live. And now someone saw our flag, which was supposed to be a symbol of hope and love, and found it so offensive they thought it ok to violate us and our family in order to remove it — all because they’re so outraged that we love and have created a family with someone of the same sex.”

This scenario has happened a total of five times since then. In November, things escalated.

One Saturday night, intruders jumped over the fence and took the flag as they have usually done. This time, they destroyed the pole, shattered the motion lights, and stole a recording security camera hidden in a bush.

“I sit here tonight sad, worried, and confused about the future of our lives and, more importantly, our children’s lives,” the couple recently posted on their Instagram page. “Last night, as some of you saw, our home was vandalized. Our Pride flag, which is seen by hundreds of people every day, was shredded, and our pole was bent and broken. This is the fifth time. Our cameras were stolen and our motion lights were shattered.”

It was the reaction of their four-year-old son that brought the gravity of the attack on their personal lives to heart.

“As I packed our son up to bed tonight and locked the front door, he said, ‘Dad, please make sure to lock the back gate so no one steals our rainbow flag again or does anything to us.’ My heart broke. To think that my son, at the age of four, has to have these thoughts going through his head traumatized me. Tears ran down my face as I packed him up,” they wrote. “Even growing up gay, I knew my house and my family was a safe sanctuary. Yet, here we are. Oh, how the world has changed.”

“Our house backs a local park that children see every day; whether they’re playing sports or going to school or simply heading to the nearest grocery store, our flag is seen,” they continued. “We do it and fly it because we, as LGBTQ youth, didn’t have that growing up. We grew up Mormon and Christian, believing and being told people like us go to hell. That’s why we fly [the flag]. To show those kids, those who are scared to be who they are meant to be, that there is hope and they will be happy one day. We don’t fly our flag to make anyone gay. We aren’t grooming anyone. Our goal is hope and survival for LGBT youth.”

The couple hopes that others can learn from their experience and make a change in their lives and the lives of those around them.

“I write this so that you, you as parents, friends, and allies, will continue to educate those around you and in your circles that as different as we may be, love will always be the answer. Our world is so full of hate and negativity. There is no need to add more. Be the light in someone’s life tomorrow. Be the reason they wake up. Don’t be the reason someone fears what their next day brings,” they concluded.