Rainbow Crosswalks Coming to the Gayborhood
The Gayborhood will be showing its true colors in fine style this summer. Thanks to Philly Pride Presents and the City of Philadelphia, permanent rainbow-hued crosswalks will be coming to two intersections in the Washington Square West neighborhood. This burst of color is meant to celebrate the Gayborhood’s heritage as a haven for the LGBT community and a place of social acceptance.
The Philly Gayborhood’s crosswalks will resemble those of Toronto.
The eight crosswalks will be located at 12th and Locust and 13th and Locust. Look for them after Philly’s Pride Parade. The crosswalks will be dedicated at the Annual Reminders Block Party on July 5th honoring the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. LGBT-rights group protests. They will resemble other rainbow-hued crosswalks in major cities like San Francisco and Austin. Like the crosswalks in Toronto, Canada’s Gayborhood, they will consist of six horizontally-colored stripes connecting two sidewalks.
Franny Price, executive director of Philly Pride Presents, says that the crosswalks have been anticipated for a long time, and that advocates in Philadelphia have long been trying to follow the lead of other cities with the installation of their own crosswalks. She said that the crosswalks will add “a little bounce to [the] step” of those walking through the Gayborhood.
Center City’s Gayborhood already boasts 68 rainbow-striped street signs, which were added by the city in 2007. The Gayborhood is traditionally demarcated as being located between Chestnut, Pine, Juniper, and 11th Streets. It got its name from the large amount of gay bars, and gay-run establishments and services located in the area.
