By John Q. Hosedrinker 
A memorial honoring Transgender Day of Remembrance on Boston Common, consisting of 425 flags, was deliberately removed this week, prompting LGBTQ advocates to call for a hate crime investigation. The flags, planted to honor transgender individuals lost to violence since 2020, were taken down shortly after being placed. The Queer Neighborhood Council, a local advocacy group, condemned the act and emphasized the prevalence of anti-trans hate within the community. The incident occurred during Transgender Awareness Week, and organizers are now considering options for the future.
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More than 400 trans flags removed from Boston Common; advocates call for hate crime investigation, and it’s a pretty gut-wrenching situation, to be honest. The flags, meticulously placed to honor the Transgender Day of Remembrance, were meant to commemorate the lives of trans and gender-expansive individuals lost to fatal violence since 2020. The fact that someone, or some people, felt compelled to remove them speaks volumes about the level of animosity and disregard that unfortunately exists.
The act itself – the theft of those flags – could easily qualify as a crime. And, given the context, the motive behind it, the targeting of a memorial specifically for a marginalized community, it opens the door to considering it a hate crime. Under existing laws, both at the state and federal levels, that’s entirely possible.
It’s natural to feel brokenhearted when you hear stories like this. Imagine being a trans person in Boston, a city that many consider to be liberal and accepting, and still having to grapple with the reality that such blatant acts of hate can occur. It’s a stark reminder that even in the most progressive environments, bigotry can persist, lurking in the shadows and ready to strike. It makes you wonder how something like this could go unnoticed while happening.
It’s disheartening to consider that some might try to downplay the significance of the act or dismiss the call for a hate crime investigation. But when you’re talking about a memorial for victims of violence, it’s difficult to see it as anything less than a targeted attack. The removal of those flags wasn’t just about taking away a symbol; it was about erasing the memory of lives lost.
Some might attempt to frame the removal as “civil disobedience,” but that interpretation misses the mark. Civil disobedience is about protesting unjust laws or policies. Defacing a memorial, specifically one honoring victims of violence, has nothing to do with civil disobedience. It’s about inflicting pain and expressing hatred toward a vulnerable community.
The argument that a hate crime investigation is unwarranted because the act “doesn’t hurt more than some people’s feelings” feels incredibly dismissive. These flags were not simply “some people’s feelings.” They represented lives taken because of hate. To say that it’s “just flags” is a fundamental misunderstanding of the impact of such actions on a community that is already under constant threat.
There’s this inclination to compare symbols of different groups. Suggesting that it’s about a particular religious group having a certain flag is a misdirection from the real situation. The situation here involves a memorial for those lost to violence.
The suggestion that the removal of these flags is comparable to something like “civil disobedience” just doesn’t make sense. It’s an attempt to minimize the impact of a hateful act. And the argument that we should only fly flags that are representative of the government is a limiting idea that doesn’t take into account diversity of expression in a public space.
The core of the issue is this: a marginalized community, already targeted by violence, was targeted again. It’s important to remember that these flags were specifically placed to remember individuals who were murdered due to anti-trans violence. If the tables were turned, and a memorial for almost any other marginalized group was defaced, the outrage would likely be swift and universal.
It all boils down to respect and acknowledgement. It is about honoring lives and recognizing the continued struggle against transphobia and violence against a specific and vulnerable community. The fact that the flags were taken down shows the hate against this community.