TL;DR
- An LGBTQ+ community centre in Colorado was vandalised by a man caught on CCTV trying to smash windows with a rock.
- It’s one of four attacks on queer-friendly spaces in the area over the weekend.
- Community leaders say this is targeted intimidation meant to silence LGBTQ+ people.
- Advocates demand authorities treat the hate-driven vandalism seriously to protect queer youth and safe spaces.
Rock-Smashing Bigot Targets Queer Center
Hate Hits Colfax Avenue
A brazen vandal took a swing — literally — at one of Colorado’s largest LGBTQ+ community centers, and the community is done being polite about it. Police are hunting down a man caught on camera early Saturday morning hurling a rock at the windows of The Center on Colfax, a well-known queer hub in Strasburg, about 40 miles outside Denver. The windows, made of tempered glass, didn’t shatter — but the emotional crack they left behind hit harder than any stone.
Several damaged windows are now sealed with plywood, quickly transformed into a louder message than the attempted destruction. Scrawled across the boards in bold, defiant strokes: “Love is love” and “Love is stronger than hate.” In true queer-resilience fashion, the community’s first instinct was to decorate the damage with pride rather than hide it.
Kim Salvaggio, the organisation’s chief executive, didn’t sugarcoat the impact. “This is not something for the history of LGBTQ+ people that we’re unfamiliar with,” she said. “We know there are targets sometimes to our persons and to our community spaces and buildings.” The attack was a reminder of a painful pattern: safe spaces for queer folks are still seen by some as places to attack rather than respect.
A Weekend of Coordinated Intimidation?
The Center on Colfax wasn’t the only target. Parasol Patrol — a nonprofit known for escorting queer youth to events safely — reported that this vandalism was one of four anti-LGBTQ+ attacks over the weekend. The list reads like a map of where queer joy thrives: an inclusive salon, a queer-focused gym and an LGBTQ-friendly boutique were all hit.
“These acts were a message to silence the entire community,” a Parasol Patrol spokesperson said, adding a warning that “Denver cannot and must not normalise this.” And they’re right — silence is exactly what hate groups crave, especially when their aim is to shove LGBTQ+ people back into the shadows.
Police haven’t confirmed whether the attacks are linked, but let’s call a rainbow-painted spade a spade: four queer-owned or queer-friendly businesses hit on the same weekend isn’t a coincidence — it’s a strategy.
Queer Leaders Demand Accountability
Parasol Patrol’s executive director, Pasha Ripley, said the situation is “deeply alarming” and reflects an “escalation in violence toward queer spaces in our city.” Ripley did not mince words, saying these attacks “do not resemble random vandalism,” but were “intimidation designed to push LGBTQIA+ people, families and especially youth-serving organisations back into fear and isolation.”
And that’s exactly why this matters, especially for the LGBTQ+ youth who rely on safe spaces to breathe, exist and find community. When queer spaces are attacked, it sends a message to vulnerable teens that they aren’t welcome — and that’s not just hateful, it’s dangerous. Studies consistently show that supportive community hubs can dramatically reduce mental-health struggles and suicide risk among queer youth. So when someone tries to smash the windows of a community center, they’re trying to shatter more than glass — they’re trying to break hope.
The Pink Times Take
This isn’t “just vandalism.” It’s a reminder that hate doesn’t always show up as a law after dark — sometimes it shows up as a rock in a hand. But the LGBTQ+ community has always been louder, brighter and tougher than the cowards who try to dim it.
Queer spaces don’t just host events — they save lives, build families and offer the kind of safety many LGBTQ+ people don’t get at home. Attacking them is an attack on the heart of our community. And if bigots think plywood boards and Sharpies are going to make us disappear, they clearly haven’t met queer people.
We don’t shrink — we sparkle louder.
Denver’s message back?
Hate may throw a rock, but love throws a parade.