During Pride Month, over 40 cities nationwide witnessed attacks on LGBTQ+ symbols, including rainbow flags and crosswalks. These incidents occurred in 21 states, with a majority in blue states like California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington, but also in red states like Idaho, Montana, Texas, and West Virginia. While most theft and vandalism appeared to be perpetrated by “lone wolf” individuals rather than coordinated extremist groups, local police, news reports, officials, and victims indicated an increase in attacks compared to previous years. This rise coincided with heightened anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation from Republicans and other conservatives. In Boise, Idaho, an annual display of 60 rainbow flags was vandalized four times in June. Michael Dale, president of Boise Pride, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, remarked, “It happens all the time now." Amanda Gentry, a victim of vandalism in rural Warren County, Tennessee, experienced this firsthand. After hoisting a rainbow Pride flag outside her law firm’s office, a surveillance video captured a man cutting it down the following night. Among the high-profile incidents, over 150 Pride flags were vandalized outside the Stonewall Monument, a gunshot pierced a rainbow flag in an Oregon library window, and three teens were arrested for vandalizing a Pride crosswalk in Washington state. These attacks coincided with the introduction of at least 510 anti-LGBTQ+ bills nationwide by Republican legislators over the past year, with more than 30 becoming law in 2024. #Queer Up Social Justice