Many also signed up to be secret Santas, bringing gifts to the family's house until New Year's Eve, when the couple plans to wed.

Neighbors Rally Behind Lesbian Couple After Their Pride Flag Was Stolen, Filling the Streets With Rainbows

After a lesbian couple’s Pride flag was stolen from their backyard, their neighbors rallied behind them, putting up their own rainbow flags in solidarity.

Casey Handel and Zadette Rosado live in Barrington, Illinois with their two daughters, and were alarmed to see it had been removed and replaced with an American flag.

Handel went on the Nextdoor social media site to ask if any of her neighbors had seen someone steal the flag. While no one had, they assured her that the act was not representative of the neighborhood as a whole.

Then, putting action to words, one neighbor, Kimberly Filian, ordered four dozen small rainbow flags for those wishing to display in solidarity with the couple.

“I’m so sick of all this hate,” Filian told the Chicago Tribune. “I just feel inundated in the media and everywhere I look, all those terrible stories. It’s overwhelming sometimes. I felt like it was one thing I could do to show support—just something little.

Not only that, but several dozen people also volunteered to serve as secret Santas, dropping off small gifts at the family’s home until New Year’s Eve, which is the day Handal and Rosado plan to get married.

“The fact that this story might make someone smile, maybe it’s not so bad, and maybe the hate we see so much is not the mass of people but individuals,” Handal said. “I think it makes it all worth it if this crummy thing that happened can lead to spreading more joy and happiness in the world.”





