Hateful words found at Pride Center shop

SALT LAKE CITY — An employee at a Utah Pride Center coffee shop arrived at work early Friday to find words of hate sprayed across the cafe's marquee.

The slur had been spray painted in black across a 6-by-4-foot Cafe Marmalade sign at 355 N. 300 West, Utah Pride Center executive director Valerie Larabee said.

Center workers immediately covered the words, called police and filed a report, but Larabee said they're worried about the effects the vandalism may have on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

"It's hate speech," she said. "It's very sad and concerning to us, because the way hate speech works in any community is it tends to scare people. It's an attack on a community, and as a community center, we have to set the example. We don't stand for hate or intolerance."

Larabee said the Utah Pride Center has had similar incidents in the past, but none as extreme as this. She said it's especially disappointing considering the progress that has been made in the state.

"The Utah community has come a very long way in having a civil dialogue with the LGBT community and having a common ground of love and acceptance," Larabee said. "We're sad this happened today, and we're hoping it's a random incident and that we can stop these sorts of things in any community."

Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Robin Snyder said the police are investigating the act as a hate crime.

She said they think it is an isolated event but will escalate patrols in the area to prevent similar incidents.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah released a statement condemning the incident as a criminal act and an abuse of the First Amendment.

"Although individuals have a First Amendment right to express their views, which can certainly involve troublesome or hateful words ... choosing to express oneself in this manner is reprehensible and, ultimately, counterproductive," the statement said.

— Emiley Morgan