The San Bartolomé City Council is considering moving the LGTBIQ+ mural dedicated to transgender people, which was vandalized with paint last week, to another location. This was confirmed to La Voz by its author, the artist Iván Temprano.
The reason for this move is that "it is very exposed" in the area where it is located, as there are hours when there is no one around the Sports Center, which increases the possibility of it being damaged again after its restoration.
Although its new location is still being finalized, the artist has informed La Voz that it is most likely that the San Bartolomé institute will be the new chosen space for its installation. However, there is still no specific date for the creation of this new mural, although it will be "soon". "We haven't gone to see the wall yet, we'll have to see in the coming days which wall it will be," he pointed out.
Regarding possible variations in the new mural, the artist offered to make some changes, but assures that it will most likely end up being the same.
Regarding the vandalism the mural suffered, Temprano explained that "even when I was painting it, I noticed some comments". He also stated that "there is nothing explicit in the mural, not even kisses or anything that could be more offensive."
On social media, the artist stated that this attack "has two analyses". "On the one hand, there is a clearly ideological attack that has to do with a group of people in society who think that these types of messages are an attack on I don't know what, perhaps out of fear or insecurity, thinking that this can confuse children or families," he indicated.
"All the mural said was that love conquers hate, and there were people smiling and hugging, so I don't understand how such a message can lead a person to have such a reaction. It's hard to believe that there are still people who think like this, but evidently there are," he continued.
He also emphasized the artistic damage. "For my part, I will continue to use my art to contribute to causes or messages that I believe have to do with inclusion and respect. I believe that good things can come out of all bad things, and sometimes these people, wanting to extinguish a message, only manage to multiply it," he said.
He also highlighted that on social media there were comments criticizing the San Bartolomé City Council's spending on this mural, but in reality, this project was financed by the Government of the Canary Islands.