Details
When: Starting sometime around November/early-December 2024.
Where: On various lawns throughout Goderich and surrounding areas.
What: Homemade lawn signs in a style similar to Gord Leamen’s signs, but with positive counter-messaging of inclusion, kindness, and hope. Conceived and created by Goderich resident and friend of No Hate in Huron.
Objectives
- To demonstrate to each other and to visitors that the opposition to hate is robust, widespread, and meaningful.
- To provide an effective grassroots counter-messaging campaign to Gord Leamen’s hate propaganda.
Significance
The grassroots lawn sign campaign empowered local residents to take meaningful action in the presence of organized hate activity. The lawn signs fostered a sense of solidarity and helped individuals to feel less isolated in their opposition to Gord Leamen’s hate propaganda.
Challenges
There were some reports of suspected vandalism but damage to signs may have been caused by weather.
Result
As of the time of this writing (2026-01-04), these homemade lawn signs can still be spotted on front lawns across Goderich and Huron County.
Lessons Learned
- Simple actions can be highly effective.
- Huron County is full of people of conscience and courage.
- When a social movement spreads to individuals taking initiative independently, that is a powerful indicator it has achieved a true grassroots momentum.
Future Implications
The homemade lawn signs inspired NHiH to commission lawn sign replicas of Lakeshore United Church’s “Be Kind” sign. This proved to be a successful supplement to the counter-messaging campaign. Those replica “Be Kind” signs can still be found on lawns around Goderich as of the time of writing (2026-01-04).
Documentation
Images
