The missing rainbow flag that adorned the tower of the Grote Kerk in Monnickendam has been found burnt down. A resident of the city found the 20 meter long flag while walking her dog on the Pierebaan. Pastor Alexander Noordijk is stunned and has reported this to the police.
The flag was hung from the church last weekend in honor of the Love Love concert that took place on Sunday night in that same church. Initially, the finder thought that the burned-down copy on the Pierebaan was another flag. “But when I saw that the flag had been stolen from the church, I actually knew it.” She thinks it’s a form of wantonness by young people.
According to her, the action has much more consequences than the perpetrators probably think. “Probably not much thought has gone into the action and that’s counterintuitive because it does have a lot of consequences. They probably won’t realize that a boyfriend, girlfriend or classmate is struggling enormously and this action doesn’t contribute to that. It puts them straight back into the closet.”
Reverend Alexander Noordijk also thinks so. He thinks it’s terrible what happened and has reported it to the police. “I did not expect this. The concert, and with it the flag, was there for connection and multi-colouredness.”
Noordijk is shocked by the burnt flag and calls it ‘pure vandalism’. According to him, this is really a different story than a wanton act of removing a flag. “I wonder if this would also have happened with a Dutch or Ukrainian flag. It is a great pity that this has to happen in Monnickendam.”
Nevertheless, the pastor does not let himself be fooled and remains positive. “The concert yesterday was a huge success, there were hundreds of people.” He says it shows support for the community. “So many people came by this weekend. People came with flowers themselves.”
According to the hopeful pastor, the flag action is only a small shadow of the success this weekend. “A lot of people here support the message that it doesn’t matter who you love or who you are. That’s very hopeful.”