June is Pride Month and rainbow flags can be seen all over the neighborhood and across the city. But they are particularly visible this year in Ashmont Hill, where neighbors have stepped up their visible support in response to what many suspect was a deliberate act of theft and vandalism targeting a neighbor’s Pride flag display earlier this month.

The incident, in which a flag was stolen from a porch on Ocean Street and allegedly stomped on over the weekend of Boston’s Pride Parade (June 8-9), prompted the neighborhood’s email “list-serv” to light up. It also inspired Florri Aversa to suggest a unified response. She cashed in some credit card points and arranged a next-day delivery of forty 3x5 flags to her home.

“If any Ashmont Hill neighbor would like a rainbow flag (free) to display on your house this month as a gesture of support, solidarity, and celebration, please email me,” Aversa wrote in an email message to the list-serv. “I will arrange to get one to you, while supplies last.”

She added: “These flags are offered in loving memory of Bob Canepa, Bob Blankenship, and Charlie Holmes, our Alban Street neighbors who are greatly missed.”  

The response from her neighbors was swift and sure.

“This is a great idea, we would be proud to fly one,” said one neighbor. Another chimed in minutes later: “I’ll take one as well.”

A sign emblazoned with the rainbow Pride colors was a prominent part of this year’s DotOUT float in the Dot Day Parade. Chris Lovett photo

Similar responses poured in over several days and Aversa made good on her pledge. With assists from friends and family, she exhausted her supply and watched as more and more flags were mounted on homes all around her.

“I’m just very happy. There was a tremendous response,” said Aversa, who said she got the idea from reading about a similar incident— and neighborly response— in Natick recently.

“I’m not a gay person, but who cares?” the former school teacher told The Reporter this week. “We are all connected in some way. And we can’t just let stuff like this slide without sending a message.”

“Obviously, this is just a start,” she said. “Next year, we’ll all put the flags back out on the first of June and let them fly all month.”

Dorchester is home to a vibrant, growing and beloved LGTBQ+ community and has been for years. We don’t host the big Pride parade in Boston each year, which is centered in the South End and Back Bay. But the neighborhood’s annual celebration –Dorchester Day – has been an inclusive event for years, thanks in large part to groups like DotOUT, a coalition of LGTBQ+ activists and allies who did the heavy lifting in earlier decades to stage parade floats and encourage participation.

Still, the work never ends and there’s no room for ignorant or hateful acts threatening any member of this community. We salute the neighbors of Ashmont Hill for taking a public and visible stand to make that message loud and clear.

Publisher’s Note: Next week’s edition of The Reporter will be published a day early on Wed., July 3 in observation of the Independence Day holiday.