Metro Weekly

Gay parade float burns in suspicious fire in Anchorage, AK

”I don’t understand why people would be so cruel. Why be so cruel?… It will be amazing, I’m sure, because everything was destroyed, everything. All the signs and stuff we had, all of the boas, everything is gone.”

Paula Butner, a gay-supportive woman in Achorage, Alaska who helps build a gay pride float with her husband every year, according to KTUU. The float went up in flames on Friday, and the Fire Department’s Captain Kevin Keene says the fire is under investigation, but it is described as suspicious. Some are assuming it was the work of an arsonist, since a person was seen running from the area just before the float burned. A garage was also destroyed. The float was apparently slated to appear in a July 4 parade. (KTUU)

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