The Northland lesbian couple whose bulb business was destroyed in a suspicious arson earlier this year has been hit with another bout of hateful graffiti. The poorly-spelt scrawling on the fence outside their Mangawhai Heads home appears to read "God hates dikes + qeers". Six months on an arson attack which destroyed the packing shed of their business Blooming Bulbs, which was preceded by similar hateful graffiti, Lindsay Curnow and Juliet Leigh were already intending to put their home on the market in spring, then most likely move back to Auckland. "Juliet and I have not really got over the shock and this isn't helped by the fact that the arsonist/s hasn't been found," Curnow says. "Mangawhai has lost its magic for us." "We became extremely aware in the last six months that virtually all of the practical help we received came from our gay mates around here and in Auckland, plus from the wider gay community in Auckland and the rest of New Zealand," she says. "Mangawhai folk came in droves to visit and talked warmly, but in practical terms offered very little help, except for the one chap who mowed our lawns for several weeks." The couple has sold the Blooming Bulbs business to Helensville woman Joy Griffiths and will remain in partnership with her as consultants for at least the first season. "There wasn't a lot left of Blooming Bulbs: the website, our computer inventory and invoicing system, the database, and the goodwill," Curnow says. "We loved our little business, and were very keen to see it continue and someone else get a chance to run with it.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 27th July 2011 - 10:11am