A Calgary gay bar's landlord has forced the establishment to remove a massive pride flag that was hung on the building to honour Orlando shooting victims.
"OK so I have some very sad and very angry news for everyone," Twisted Element owner RayJean Fafard wrote on Facebook Tuesday.
Fafard posted a video of the rainbow flag being removed from the front of the building.
The club owner explained that the building's landlord ordered them to remove the flag, as it covered the upper tenant's windows, despite Fafard's allegation that Twisted is the only active tenant in the building.
“This is how we show our support in times of crisis,” Fafard told Metro News.
”We fly our colours and we fly them high and as big as we can. We assume that everyone would be on the same side, but I was mistaken.”
However, Twisted's landlord says he's open to a compromise.
"We are willing to work with Twisted Element and the LGBTQ community to develop a compromise where they can display their pride flag without covering windows of other tenants," read a statement that was sent to CBC News on behalf of building owner Trevor Tomanik.
”We fly our colours and we fly them high and as big as we can."
The flag was put up Sunday in support of the victims of a shooting that killed 49 people and injured dozens more in an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando. It was the largest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Twisted has been a staple in Calgary ever since it opened 13 years ago.
Fafard says the Orlando attack was an important reminder that homophobia is still a serious and terrifying concern for members of the LGBTQ community.
"As a gay club owner, I can tell you that what happened in Orlando — that fear is always, always in the back of my brain," he told the Calgary Herald.
Members of the Calgary community have reached out to Twisted Element in solidarity, including one who left a bouquet of flowers at the club's door.
Also on HuffPost:
