Kermit the Frog told us itB次元官网网址檚 not that easy being green. Well, itB次元官网网址檚 not that easy being rainbow, either.

Often, it takes tremendous courage to be your true self. To stand in front of the crowd and say B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 queer and IB次元官网网址檓 here.B次元官网网址�

Like now. The barbarians are at the gate. They are rattling their sabres of hate and intolerance.

They toss spent bullet casings at the feet of gay men standing outside Paparazzi Nightclub and it is not a prank. It is not a bit of frat-boy, spring break-style buffoonery. It is an unveiled, cold and calculated threat.

Yet, perhaps in part because Victoria police Staff Sgt. Darren Laur says it is something he has B次元官网网址渘ever seenB次元官网网址� in his 27 years of policing, there appears to be a tendency to view it as a fleeting moment of madness. A one-off, if you will.

Indeed, the B次元官网网址, , seems to suggest as much by telling us they B次元官网网址渄idnB次元官网网址檛 see that one incident as proof of a general lack of intolerance.B次元官网网址� They went on to advise us that B次元官网网址渟uch cases are rare these days, at least those involving police.B次元官网网址�

In other words, B次元官网网址淗ey, it happens once every 27 years. Everyone chill. LetB次元官网网址檚 talk about it again in 2039.B次元官网网址�

Wrong. Do not go there.

Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community navigate their way through spent bullet casings every day. Sometimes the empty shells arrive in the form of words spoken or written, as was the case in early June when homophobic signage was taped to a shop-front window in Fernwood. And when vile, venom-laced attack verbiage surfaced on the Internet and took direct aim at the ownership and management of Paparazzi.

Hateful words are no less frightening. No less hurtful. And no less alarming when they include threats of violence and death.

The sole difference is that spent bullet casings provide a more disquieting visual than words on a piece of paper or a website. You sit up and take notice of spent bullet casings. The police are summoned. Television cameras roll. People are on edge, knowing there might be a wingnut out there who likes to play with guns. So why trivialize it as B次元官网网址渞are?B次元官网网址�

The soul of the LGBT community has been vandalized and this incident is, among other things, a discomforting and disturbing backdrop to Pride Week, when the queer-as-folk crowd rally as one for nine days of innocent pomp, pageantry and frolic, that culminates with the annual parade through the streets of downtown Victoria on July 8.

It is also another harsh reminder of the reality that the battle for acceptance continues unabated.

Again referencing the B次元官网网址B次元官网网址� editorial, it mentions B次元官网网址渉ow far weB次元官网网址檝e come as a community in dispensing with biases and stigmas against people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer and questioning.B次元官网网址�

The very notion that bias and stigma have vanished is a misguided piece of pollyanna. There has been no dispensing of bias and stigma. An easing, yes. A dispensing, no.

B次元官网网址淣o one should kid themselves that there is 100-per-cent acceptance of queers,B次元官网网址� says Art Luney, owner of the Castle B次元官网网址 Bar and Nightclub, a gay venue above PaulB次元官网网址檚 Motor Inn. B次元官网网址淭here are forces that would like to see our rights diluted. We shouldnB次元官网网址檛 forget that. The war is not over. Not by a long shot.B次元官网网址�

Does Victoria offer an LGBT-friendly environment? Absolutely.

I can walk our streets unobstructed. I am treated with respect, courtesy and friendship by patrons and staff in shops, banks, markets, medical offices and the mainstream restaurants and pubs I attend. But I still see the stares. I still hear the whispers. I am forever conscious of the periphery, always on the alert, my built-in radar scanning for the next volley of spent bullet casings to fall at my feet. Or at a gay friendB次元官网网址檚 feet.

And, as sure as the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation, it will happen. Which is why we have Paparazzi, the Castle and The Ledge, the three main LGBT sanctuaries in town. ItB次元官网网址檚 why we have Pride Week with its fabulous fixings.

This is an opportunity to celebrate Canadian freedoms, not just for the LGBT community, but for its many allies as well.

We all can take pride in a country that is a world leader in LGBT rights. A country secure enough in its own skin that it is sending a gay man, Mark Tewksbury, to London as chef de mission for the 300-plus Canadian contingent at the Olympic Games later this month and into August.

Most of all, itB次元官网网址檚 a time to take pride in oneB次元官网网址檚 true self. To flex oneB次元官网网址檚 amour propre.

Three distasteful incidents in one month tell us that the homophobes are on manoeuvres and that victory over the beast is not at hand.

We can always hope, however, that itB次元官网网址檚 somewhere over the rainbow.

Patti Dawn Swansson is a former Black Press reporter who underwent gender reassignment surgery in November 2009.