Anti-LGBTQ+ graffiti found near Long Beach Pride headquarters

Vandalism on an utility box includes a swastika and a MAGA hashtag.

- BY RUBEN VIVES

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COUNTY Supervisor Janice Hahn promised to help upgrade Long Beach Pride's security camera system.

The Long Beach Police Department is investigating anti-LGBTQ+ graffiti that included a swastika and a reference to MAGA and was written on a utility box outside the Long Beach Pride headquarters over the weekend.

In a statement, the Police Department said officers responded shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday to the 1000 block of Obispo Avenue about a report of vandalism. The arriving officers were then directed to a utility box where someone had written derogatory statements against the LGBTQ+ community. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime, police said.

Long Beach Pride, a nonprofit organization run mostly by volunteers that puts together a popular three-day pride festival in Long Beach, posted photos of the graffiti and a statement from the interim president on Facebook expressing concern and shock over the incident. The photos show expletive-filled statements directed at members of the LGTBQ+ community, along with a Nazi symbol and a hashtag that included the word “MAGA,” an apparent reference to President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” motto.