LGBTQ+ Pride flag torn down from queer salon ‘for the sixth time in just three years’

An LGBTQ+ Pride flag hanging outside a queer hair salon in Leicester has been torn down for the sixth time in only three years.

George Waterfield, 30, and Darren Cunningham, 34, hoisted the flag outside The Secret Garden Hair when they made the salon gender-neutral.

But passersby have stolen and damaged the flag multiple times, with some vandalism incidents happening only weeks after the last.

CCTV footage shared with Metro shows two men walking along Queens Road at about 5.35am on Sunday when they spot the flag.

One of the men climbed up a utility pole to reach the intersex-inclusive Pride flag flying from a bracket drilled into the salon wall.

The surveillance video shows the man snapping the flagpole off, all while the second man seemingly takes photographs.

As the man shuffles down the pole, he drops the flag on the ground before picking it up and running off.

George, who appeared on ITV2 dating show The Cabins in 2021, told Metro that he realised the flag was gone yesterday.

‘Darren went into work and knew straight away it was gone, it’s not there anymore, so that means it’s been ripped down,’ he said.

‘Looked at the CCTV and lo and behold, two grown people are ripping down the flag, standing on each other’s shoulders.

‘I think that’s disturbing behaviour. This isn’t our first rodeo – we’ve had this happen six times now, which is insane.’

Among those six times was in September, when George told Metro that a man cycled towards the salon to tear the flag down, even cycling over it before fleeing the scene.

But George says that only weeks later, the flag was stolen again. ‘And now we’ve had it again, five months later,’ he adds. ‘It’s insane.’

The couple made their salon in Clarendon Park gender-neutral in 2023. Beforehand, customers had to book either a gents’ or ladies’ cut.

The decision just made sense to George. For trans people especially, a trim can be a literal weight off their shoulders, helping them feel more at ease.

Yet hairsyling many places specialise in only one gender, let alone those who fall outside the gender binary. Some have even turned away trans and non-binary clients, even if they have bookings.

‘We think it’s a thing of the past, genderising haircuts,’ says George.

‘You should be paying for what haircut you are having, not for what gender you are.

‘Our gender fluid clientele have a safe space to come to and by flying the flag it shows safety when in the salon and no judgement.’

LGBT+ safety in the UK

The UK was once ranked as the most LGBTQ+ friendly place in Europe, according to an annual ranking known as the Rainbow Map.

But the country has fallen 22 places in the last 10 years, ranking 22nd out of 49 countries last year.

LGBTQ+ campaigners listed the chipping away of trans rights as among the biggest reasons for this decline.

Trans youth have had their healthcare options limited, while draft advice for schools recommends social transition, which often includes getting a haircut, needs to be agreed upon by teachers and parents.

Another reason for the UK’s decline in LGBTQ-friendliness has been the years-long increase in anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes.

There were more than 18,000  hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation and over 3000 transphobic hate crimes in the year up to March 2025.   

George says that while the flag has been torn off, there won’t be an empty wall for much longer.

‘We’ll be hanging the pride flag back up, and we will be flying it with pride,’ he adds.

‘This is what we stand for and no one is going to stop us.’

The police told Metro: ‘Yesterday, a report was received that a LGBTQ+ flag was stolen from outside a salon in Avenue Road Extension, Leicester.

‘The flag was reported to have been stolen at around 5.30am on Sunday.

‘Officers are carrying out enquiries into the incident, including reviewing CCTV footage.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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