Two intersections in downtown Phoenix are going to be filled with color after the Phoenix City Council voted to install two rainbow crosswalks to celebrate the LGBTQ community.
The request for rainbow crosswalks came from three organizations: Aunt Rita’s Foundation, one•n•ten and Phoenix Pride. They wrote letters to Mayor Greg Stanton requesting these installations at the intersection of Portland Street and Central Avenue and at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Glenrosa Avenue.
The proposed design for these crosswalks was to keep the original white paint and fill in the blocks of the crosswalk with rainbow colors.
“The installation of this rainbow crosswalk is a celebration of our vibrant Phoenix LGBTQ community,” said Nate Rhoton, the executive director for one•n•ten. “The installation of the rainbow crosswalk will offer a permanent sign of support, celebrating the resilience of Phoenix Youth.”
The installation on Central Avenue is outside one•n•ten’s Phoenix youth center and aims to show youth support and encouragement as they look for services to support them. The Seventh Avenue location for the crosswalk was requested by Aunt Rita’s Foundation, an organization that aims to help fight HIV and AIDS.
“This rainbow crosswalk would help to reduce discrimination against the LGBTQ community, and by extension reduce HIV stigma,” wrote Glen Spencer, the executive director for Aunt Rita’s Foundation.
Rainbow crosswalks are part of a pilot program and have been popping up in cities all over the United States, including Philadelphia, Seattle and San Antonio. Cities in Canada have also followed suit in this trend with crosswalks in Vancouver and Ottawa.
“The City of Phoenix is now the fifth largest city in the country and is known throughout the country,” wrote Michael Fornelli, the executive director for Phoenix Pride. “The time is right to move this proposal forward to bring rainbow crosswalks to one Phoenix intersection so that our city can continue to embrace and thrive in our diversity and our inclusion and in welcoming all people who wish to visit, live in, work in or simply enjoy the City of Phoenix.”
Concerns regarding the safety aspect of rainbow crosswalks were raised at the council meeting because of the bright colors and design. Each of the rainbow crosswalks that have been installed are currently temporary so they can be evaluated for safety and efficiency.
District 1 Councilwoman Thelda Williams was concerned about whether installing these colored crosswalks would encourage people to use them or avoid them.
“Our current count of people not crossing at crosswalks and being killed is astronomical. I want to make sure there’s an educational process in it,” Williams said at the meeting. “I don’t want to put one of these in and just create targets. People are tuned to see certain things and if its different, they tend to ignore it and I don’t want to see people killed in the process.”
Despite this, the City Council voted unanimously in favor of these crosswalk installations, which will be funded through private funding as well as endorsement from the city for materials, installation and maintenance for these crosswalks.
Contact the reporter at smedwards7@asu.edu.
Sara Edwards was the executive editor of Downtown Devil. She is a graduate student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Sara has additional bylines in Phoenix New Times, West Valley View, L.A. Downtown News and Boardwalk Times.
Sara is also the co-secretary for the Multicultural Student Journalists Coalition.
