Mar 22
Anti-LGBTQ Stickers Overtake Montana Town
Emell Adolphus READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Police in Livingston, Montana, are investigating a slew of "sticker slapping" around town that are making residents uneasy.
As reported by NBC Montana, vandals have been reportedly putting up derogatory stickers that are anti-LGBTQ in how they could be perceived.
A local business owner, Lauren Silano, told NBC Montana that she had been shocked by the stickers and noticed them around town Saturday night.
"We kept walking, and I kept seeing them on pretty much every light pole. And I realized they were on the benches, they were on the picnic tables," she said, adding that she was also concerned about the potential anti-LGBTQ blowback the stickers could cause.
"They were very obviously fake statistics meant to trick people into thinking that being a part of the LGBTQ community was bad, wrong, immoral," said Silano.
Silano said she went about trying to collect and remove the stickers, but Livingston Police said her efforts interfered with their investigation.
"The police could not do an investigation because I removed evidence and I should never do that," said Silano.
However, Silano said she did see three individuals who were putting up stickers on Saturday and reported it to authorities.
"If I had approached them I would be potentially at risk," said Silano
Reportedly the city's Public Works department removed more than 200 stickers from city property and city assets, estimating that there are around 1,000 stickers around the city.
Addressing the lewd messages on the stickers, city manager Grant Gager said the stickers aren't representative of southwest Montana.
"Instance like this are incredibly unfortunate but really only serve to steel our resolve and commit to being as welcoming and inclusive a community as we possibly can be," said Gager.
