Killed Over a Flag: The Risks of Advocacy
By Mya Tran
66 year-old Laura Ann “Lauri” Carleton of Lake Arrowhead, CA began her fashion career in her early teens. She then went on to attend designer school in LA. Carleton traveled worldwide to expand her designs and improve her business. Her store, Mag.Pi, represented “grace and ease and continuing to dream ‘’ according to her website.
August 18th, 2023, Carleton was shot and killed in her store over the pride flag she displayed in the doorway. As a mother of nine, some of whom are part of the queer community, Carleton’s allyship was very important to her. This was not the first act of violence she had experienced. Mag.Pi had had supportive signs stolen and had been vandalized in the past. Carleton had a history of kindness and was a well-loved member of her community. She was pronounced dead on scene.
On this particular day, 27 year-old Travis Ikeguchi was making insulting and rude comments about the pride flag. Ikeguchi was a known homophobe, having made constant comments on his social media platforms about how he believed all pride flags should be burned and that to be part of the LGBT community was to be against Christianity. Ikeguchi is now deceased after being confronted by local deputies and shot to death.
Pride flags have a long and tumultuous history in the LGBTQ+ community. From niche, internet created flags, to the new, modern, progressive pride flags, the queer community treasures them. More recently, pride stickers and flags have gone up in storefronts to show support for the community and to let people know that the shop is a safe space for anyone under the queer community. As a young queer person who’s getting ready to start their career search, one of the things that makes me feel safe in a community is seeing pride flags hanging over porches and waving from shop windows.
Lauri Carleton was showing that her shop was a safe space for people who are often afraid to enter clothing shops on account of facing anti-queer or anti-trans rhetoric and bigotry. It is a dark reality that showing such support comes with a high risk. In the face of her death, however, the local LGBTQ+ community has banded together. People visit her storefront and leave kind words. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis showed her support on Instagram, saying “I feel deeply saddened by this,”.
If you plan to display a pride flag in your home or in a storefront please consider these things: your location and your security. If you are planning to display your pride flag in a place that does not accept the LGBTQ+ community, make sure you have a way to ensure you, your loved ones, and passerbys stay safe. It is important to show support for the LGBTQ+ community and we must feel safe displaying our pride. However, we must stay vigilant about our own safety and the safety of those around us.
Thank you, Lauri Carleton, for your support and your bravery.
Rest in power.
About the Author:
Mya Tran is an incoming junior at Butler University, in Indianapolis, IN. They are currently studying English on the creative writing track and German. Growing up in a small college town with limited queer role models, Tran has spent her life with her nose in the books, looking for someone to relate to.
