Today is Monday, August 21, 2023. A chilling story in today’s Daily News reveals how repugnican rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community these last few years has exploded in violence in a California neighborhood near San Bernardino where a clothing shop owner was killed simply for displaying a Pride flag outside her store. This terribly horrible story was covered in Joseph Wilkinson’s article entitled “California town mourns woman killed over flying Pride flag at her store.”

The woman, Laura Ann Carleton, 66, was shot Friday evening at her store by a man who was later killed by police shortly after the initial shooting. Thus the assailant can never be interviewed as to why he had so much hatred for someone who was just exercising her right to fly a flag outside her business. Was he so filled with far-right enmity toward gay people that he had to strike out senselessly to kill a woman who didn’t even identify as gay or bisexual? Was he listening to far-right rhetoric from Ron DeMented or other despicable politicians or podcasts featuring conservative pundits with axes to grind against the LGBTQ+ community?

As for what actually happened, the man confronted Carleton at her store, Mag.Pi, in Cedar Glen, around 5 p.m. Friday, according to police. In a statement released by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s office on Saturday, “The suspect made several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag that stood outside the store before shooting Carleton.”

After doing the heinous deed, the man fled on foot, but was later tracked down by investigators.

The article does not depict Carleton as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, but she was known as a staunch ally. In honor of the deceased business owner, flowers and numerous Pride flags were placed outside the clothing store in tribute to her.

A local LGBTQ+ rights group wrote Sunday on Instagram, “Thank you Arrowhead for showing up for Lauri Carleton who was tragically murdered in a HATE crime. We will be holding a vigil after [the] tropical storm has cleared. We as a community will stand against hate crimes against anybody.”

The small town of Cedar Glen sits about 60 miles east of Los Angeles in the San Bernardino Mountains and can be in the middle of this once-in-a-lifetime tropical cyclone that’s predicted to strike Southern California on Sunday into Monday.

The local co-op Mountain Provisions Cooperative wrote on Facebook, “Lauri was a pillar in our community, an immovable force in her values for equality, love, and justice.” Obviously, one hateful person was not moved by her stance on equality here, so much so that he senselessly killed her for no apparent reason.

The Human Rights Campaign has noted “an unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in 2023.” The group’s president, Kelley Robinson, said in June, “LGBTQ+ Americans are living in a state of emergency. The multiplying threats facing millions in our community are not just perceived – they are real, tangible and dangerous.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom said, “This is absolutely horrific,” in a social media post about the shooting. He added, “This disgusting hate has no place in” California. He’s absolutely right! It has no place in one of our most liberal states and has no place anywhere else!

Hollywood director Paul Feig paid tribute to Carleton, calling her a wonderful friend.

He wrote in an Instagram post, “We are all devastated for her husband Bort and her family and the LGBTQ+ community, for whom Lauri was such a true ally.”

Feig then wrote words directed against the hatemongers out there, and they know who they are, “This intolerance has to end. Anyone using hateful language against the LGBTQ+ community has to realize their words matter, that their words can inspire violence against innocent loving people. Let’s all keep moving forward with tolerance and love.” Words for all of us to live by! I doubt, though, that the hatemongers out there will heed the director’s instructions here at all.

A little background on the woman who was just killed outside her store: a career in fashion began early in Carleton’s life as she worked in her family’s clothing shop and attended ArtCenter College of Design, a private art university in Pasadena, California, according to the store’s website.

Carleton and her husband were married for 28 years and share “a blended family of nine children,” according to the store’s website. The couple’s interests include traveling, architecture, design, fine art, food and fashion, the site says.

Nothing has been written of the dead suspect in this case.

Stay safe and be well.