Man suffers homophobic abuse after flying Pride flag from house – neighbours respond by all doing the same
A street full of residents in Old Trafford are proving hatred has no place in their community.
By Will Stroude
A street full of people have made a moving show of solidarity with the LGBTQ community after one of their neighbours was attacked for flying the Pride flag outside his home.
Old Trafford resident Alex Hancock was verbally abused by two men who threatened to kill him after hung the flag outside his home ahead of Manchester’s Pride celebrations last weekend, BBC News reports.
“Two young guys had obviously seen the rainbow flag and they then started to shout some homophobic comments… so I sort of stood my ground and said they should leave the neighbourhood to which they didn’t react well,” Mr Hancock explained.
“Their language became even more homophobic and they then threatened to kill me.”
Shocked by what had happened, Mr Hancock’s neighbours they decided to show that hatred has no place in their community by flying the Pride flag from as many homes as possible along the street.
Image: Liz Sharpley (Facebook)
Neighbour Dereck Erdley, who said the attack on Mr Hancock had left him “absolutely horrified”, explained: “We can’t let this happen. Especially in this community.”
“The whole street is going to be decked with flags in support of Alex.”
Check out the street in its full rainbow glory below:
This street are flying rainbow flags to support their neighbour who was a victim of homophobic abuse 🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/J3XOWCSYfR
— BBC North West (@BBCNWT) August 25, 2019