Am I a Coward?  Photo of the progressive pride flag flying. It wasn't ironed before I put it up, so you can see the folds in the flag. In the background, there's blue sky and scaffolding. A couple of years ago, on 15 April 2023, the [COC](https://coc.nl) invited everyone to put up a Pride flag in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community, who had experienced multiple violent incidents in the weeks before. So, we did. And we didn’t fly it for just that single day, we decided to leave it up to support the community. At least, that was our intention. But it didn’t last long. Less than two weeks later, someone forcefully removed the flag from our house and took it. Photo of my damaged plastic flag pole holder on a brick wall. I don’t understand how seeing a brightly colored flag can be such a trigger that you feel the need to steal it. So while the police filed this as a hate crime, I kept telling myself that it probably was someone who really wanted a pride flag, but couldn’t afford one. Later that year, my oldest daughter celebrated her birthday with a rainbow and unicorns themed party. As part of the decorations, we flew a rainbow flag. She loved it. Especially when we explained to her the meaning of the flag. And, when I got a positive comment about it from someone in the LGBTQIA+ community, we decided to leave it up after her birthday. I had replaced the old plastic flag pole holder for a metal one, and raised it quite a bit so it wasn’t as easy to reach anymore. It worked. The flag flew proudly for over 6 months. But, in mid-April 2024, my wife heard a lot of noise when she was home alone. It took her a while to realize what might have happened. And yes, the rainbow flag was forcefully removed again. This time, the flag pole holder wasn’t the weakest part, and they literally broke off the pole and left the flag in the street. This was a scary experience. At least two people must have decided to walk into our front yard, climb up, and break the pole by force, while someone was clearly at home. Unfortunately, due to a malfunction of our camera system, we didn’t have any footage. It’s almost two years ago, and I still haven’t replaced the flag. Not because I don’t want to. Not because I don’t think it’s important. Not because I can’t afford a flag. It’s not that… People were willing to damage my property twice, because they were triggered by a flag. And I really don’t want to let them “win”, but I’m also not willing to put my family’s safety at risk. I don’t want my wife to be afraid to be home alone because we’re flying a flag. So, I decided to do nothing. And it makes me feel like a coward. Am I?, Am I a Coward?, tacoverdo.com, 01kkymszr7dbsj6ybjy85hjaae.