A mural of the murdered Northern Ireland writer Lyra McKee has been defaced in the US with a swastika and anti-LGBTQ+ graffiti.
It was one of three artworks vandalised this week at the Zebra youth centre, which provides services to LGBTQ+ people in Orlando, Florida.
Anna Vishkaee Eskamani, a member of the Florida House of Representatives, called the defacement “absolutely disgusting” and said authorities would seek to identify and hold to account those responsible.
McKee, an author and gay activist, was shot dead by a dissident republican gunman while observing a riot in Derry in April 2019. She was 29.
The youth centre commissioned the mural later that year to honour McKee, who had visited Orlando in 2017 after a gun attack on a gay nightclub in the city that left 49 people dead.
The mural showed McKee framed by a heart and a quote from one of her essays: “Keep hanging on, kid. It’s worth it. I love you.”
The graffiti showed a swastika and sniper’s crosshairs and a message: “Protect lives saves kids’ eyes from trans lies.”
The Zebra centre said it would not be intimidated. “We will not allow the recent vandalism to our building by a hate group to detour or waver us.”
On Monday it posted on Instagram photos of the repainted murals. “They are just as beautiful as before! We have an incredible community and will not stop fighting!”
McKee had dedicated a Ted talk to the victims of the Orlando nightclub massacre. Since her death she has become a symbol of the campaign for LGBTQ+ equality in Northern Ireland and elsewhere.
Orlando city council passed a resolution expressing sympathy to her partner, family, friends and the people of Derry.
