Siblings' charity plan after Pride flag vandalism

A brother and sister in York have said they plan to start a charity in response to alleged homophobic vandalism at their shop.

Xander and Claire Platz opened "This Shop is So Gay" on Parliament Street in March, and have plans to convert their old premises on Low Petergate into a cafe.

They said a Pride flag was removed from outside of the new store twice within three weeks.

North Yorkshire Police has appealed for information as part of an investigation into "hate-related criminal damage".

The siblings bought their first souvenir shop nine months ago, and soon wrote the word "gay" in large letters on the window.

Whilst that sparked some educational conversations among customers and families, Mr Platz said others walked past "shouting at the shop, aggressively".

"We've always said we're going to turn hate to great, so every time somebody is hateful we make something great out of it," he said.

"When they were hateful about the little gay shop, it got more successful for us, because people kept coming in and telling us their stories."

Many of the siblings' online supporters offered to help buy a new flag, Mr Platz said.

They set up a fundraiser with a target of £100.

"Overnight, it raised nearly a thousand pounds, and it's a lot of small donations.

"The money's great because we can do the repairs, we can sort the flag out, but more than that, it's people all around the world saying, 'no we won't run and hide, put this flag back up, keep going and keep visibility,' " he said.

The donations inspired the siblings to set up a charity, to which they'll donate 10% of their profits from the shop and cafe.

The plans also include an LGBTQ+ themed museum in the basement of their new premises.

The museum would cover the history of LGBTQ+ people "from day zero", Mr Platz said, enabling people to "see themselves represented as normal".

He said there was a particular focus on creating a "safe space" for transgender people.

He explained: "Growing up in the 80s and 90s, the whole world was like, 'you are horrendous if you are gay,' and I think that's transitioned now to being 'you are horrendous if you are trans.' "

The charity would be focused on "having a great time", Mr Platz said, so patrons could forget about "trying to stand in a certain way and trying to say the right things".

"It's all about - for me and Claire - having fun before we die and laughing as much as possible."

North Yorkshire Police previously said it was investigating criminal damage between 6pm on 22 March and 10am the following day.

The Pride flag was ripped from its flagpole, which caused damage to the brickwork of the building.

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