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CONCORD — For nearly a quarter century, the Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa has provided services, counseling and a safe space for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents.

But a recent rash of burglaries and vandalism targeting the nonprofit has stirred up memories of a turbulent period of open anti-gay bias in Concord. The attacks on the Rainbow Center and the burning in April of a Clayton church’s rainbow flag, indicate that the LGBT community still faces bigotry in the famously liberal Bay Area.

“This reminds us that we need to be vigilant and I think that good people in the community need to condemn this activity,” said Steve Weir, former Concord councilman and county Clerk-Recorder.

In the span of two weeks, thieves broke into the Rainbow Center’s office on Willow Pass Road four times. Concord police are treating the last incident as a hate crime because the culprits also scrawled homophobic graffiti on the exterior of the building.

The burglars kicked in doors, forced open desk drawers and trashed offices. They stole seven laptops, a cash box, a projector, computer towers, flash drives and a credit card machine, according to Ben Barr, executive director of the center.

The suspects also took a file containing donors’ financial information and fraudulently charged $10,000 on three credit cards — paying for Antioch hotel rooms, pizzas and Starbucks — and used a forged check to purchase $1,000 worth of goods at a Kohl’s, according to Barr.

But a week before the first burglary in late September, a vandal threw a rock through the window of the Rainbow Center’s thrift store on Pacheco Boulevard. Two weeks ago, someone tried to kick in the shop’s door and broke the glass again, Barr said.

“Is it because we’re gay and lesbian? Is it because we’re in downtown Concord? There are no answers,” said Barr, noting that the center has been broken into before.

The community responded with generosity and support. Two major Rainbow center funders cut $10,000 checks, $5,000 in small donations poured in online, a woman brought danishes and homemade cookies to the office and about 100 people attended an open house at the center, Barr said.

While he praised Police Chief Guy Swanger and his officers, Barr said he was disappointed that City Council members did not reach out to the center after the break-ins.

“Why would I do that?” Mayor Laura Hoffmeister said in response to Barr’s comment. “It’s no different than when the food bank was broken into several times over. I never contacted them. I treated (Rainbow) no differently than I treated anybody.”

Concord, however, has a troubling history of anti-gay sentiment. In 1990, the Rev. Lloyd Mashore led a successful campaign to rescind a measure that prohibited discrimination against people with AIDS. The next year, voters overturned a human rights ordinance that protected gays and lesbians.

Concord police Sgt. Ken Carlson said that ugly 1991 campaign was one reason he stayed in the closet.

“We still have those who are not supportive of the gay community, that are outwardly aggressive,” said Carlson, a Pleasant Hill councilman and chairman of the Rainbow Center’s board.

“It’s sad to say, but there’s always the potential that we’re going to be the target of some negative attention.”

Carlson and Barr agree that there is much greater acceptance of the gay community today in Concord and Central County. For example, the Concord/Pleasant Hill Health Care District funds several of the Rainbow Center’s programs. Still, the group has encountered some resistance to its anti-bullying work in the local schools,Carlson said.

Recently, Concord earned a 61 on the Human Rights Campaign’s equality index, which ranks cities on a 100-point scale based on hate crimes reporting, nondiscrimination laws, employment policies and other criteria. But Concord erroneously received 5 points for having a Human Rights Commission, which disbanded in 2010. By comparison, the LGBT civil rights advocacy group awarded Oakland and Richmond scores of 77 and 83, respectively.

Hoffmeister also believes Concord residents have evolved and become more accepting of gay people and people of different races. She hopes that the incident at the Rainbow Center does not turn out to be a hate crime.

Regardless of what the police investigation uncovers, the organization plans to continue its work here.

“We are not going to let this scare us away,” Barr said, noting that the gay community has come together in the wake of the break-ins. “I think that’s really important, when things like this happen, that we don’t let it push us back in the closet.”