LGBTQ-Friendly Housing Project in Hyde Park Vandalized With Hate Speech

Signs at an LGBTQ-friendly Boston housing project for seniors were vandalized with violent and threatening hate speech, developers said Sunday.

The Pryde, which broke ground less than a month ago, will turn an old middle school in Hyde Park into 74 mixed-income senior housing units. It is not expected to be open until late 2023.

In a Facebook post with a disclaimer for hate speech, LGBTQ Senior Housing said "virtually every sign" was spray-painted. The post shows photos of the graffiti — the vandals said they would burn the housing development and threatened the lives of LGBTQ people.

"We will not let bullies and cowards stop our work to create safe and welcome affordable housing for our LGBTQ elders," the developers wrote on Facebook. "We will not let hate go unchallenged in Hyde Park."

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Boston police confirmed they were investigating the incident, which was reported about 11:42 a.m.

LGBTQ Senior Housing announced an event at the site Sunday afternoon "to denounce hate and reaffirm the promise of a welcoming, inclusive and diverse Hyde Park."

"To see cowards come out under the dark of night and try to intimidate or put their hate on this larger community, it doesn't represent what we've seen throughout this multiyear process, and we are just going to move even faster to get this done," Mayor Michelle Wu said at the event Sunday.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Sunday that all threats to the LGBTQ+ community will be prosecuted.

"It breaks my heart to see these ugly threats targeting a project — and a community — of such importance to our city," Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. "This is the second straight weekend of Boston being marred by hatred and intolerance. This cannot stand. My office will prosecute threats to the LGBTQ+ community wherever and whenever they occur."

The FBI is among the groups investigating Saturday's march by Patriot Front, in which at least one clash broke out but no arrests were made. There was no advance intelligence about the demonstration, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told reporters.

Last weekend, about 100 people apparently associated with the white supremacist group Patriot Front marched in Boston.

The Pryde development received $3.8 million in funding from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development and $4 million from the Boston Mayor's Office of Housing. Eight of the units will be designated for unhoused families or individuals.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.