“It’s hard to be gay in South Dakota.”Ĭalifornia starts tracking LBTQ data for COVID-19 patientsĭr. “I don’t think it’s right, not only for me - but for the gay community - gay people who live in small communities who are afraid to come out,” he told KELO. Kriech now wants to pursue charges against Pesall, but the Day County State’s Attorney Danny Smeins notes that, while the incident is being investigated, South Dakota’s hate crime law does not include gender-based protections, which could apply to instances of anti-LGBTQ discrimination.Īs such, Smeins claims, the most Pesall could be charged with is misdemeanor theft charges, or destroying another’s property, or, potentially, lying about the crime or attempting to cover it up.īut Kriech, who is currently in the middle of moving to Minneapolis because it’s more accepting, insists he wants Pesall charged. See also: Iowa man sentenced to 16 years in jail for stealing and burning an LGBTQ Pride flagīut Pesall claims the flag he burned isn’t Kriech’s, adding, “I burned a flag - not the flag that’s in question and what everyone is having such a shit show about.”Įven After Grindr Changed Its Data Policy, Users Are Still Being Outed Martinez was arrested in June after taking the rainbow flag from the United Church of Christ in Ames. “I was just disturbed, disgusted - especially coming from someone I know, that they would actually do something that hateful and disgusting,” Kriech told KELO. In addition to spending a decade and a half in prison for burning the LGBT flag, the 30-year-old Martinez also will be serving an additional year for his use of fire and 30 days for harassment. “But I thought, ‘You know what? Let’s just do it.'”īut he says he never expected someone to go to the lengths Pesall allegedly went to, including allegedly stealing the flag. The man who claims it’s his flag, Troy Kriech, of Webster, says he wanted to put up a flag for Pride Month in June.Įven though he’s only experienced a few anti-gay incidents, he knew he was taking a risk and might receive negative comments from his neighbors.
The public display of that type of thing is offensive to me,” Pesall said. “Much like the uproar over tearing down war monuments the controversy over the confederate flag because they’re offensive.