After the sabotage: the housing company responds with flags, colour and courage
When two rainbow flags were torn down and a flag line was cut in one of the areas of Bostäder i Borås, the housing company responded by raising even more flags. It also invited the artist Adam Algotsson to create a colourful artwork in the middle of the residential area. All to show its belief in the equal worth of every person and to refuse to be silenced.
When several rainbow flags were torn down and a flag line was cut in the areas of Bostäder i Borås, the housing company responded by raising even more flags. It also invited the artist Adam Algotsson to create a colourful artwork in the middle of a residential area. All to show its belief in the equal worth of every person and to refuse to be silenced.
- We know that there are people who are forced to hide who they are every day. That is why we have to stand up for them. When someone tries to silence that message, we make it even clearer. We stand firm. We fly the flag again, says Sophia Jonsson, head of marketing and communications at Bostäder i Borås.
Every year Bostäder i Borås raises rainbow flags in its areas ahead of Borås Pride. But this year flags disappeared before the festival had even begun. In Druvefors, one of the flag lines was also cut to stop a new flag being raised.
The company chose to act at once. New flags were bought and put up. In Druvefors, staff taped the cut-down flag up temporarily and ordered a new line for the flagpole the same day.
As a symbol of everyone's right to be themselves, the company has now also invited the artist Adam Algotsson. On Thursday he painted a vivid work on site in the residential area. The work stays there as a reminder of courage, love and the courage to speak up.
- For us this is not just about flags, but about standing up for the equal worth of every person. Not just for one week in June, but every day, all year round, Sophia Jonsson concludes.