WASHINGTON — Your walk up and down 17th Street in Northwest D.C. will be more colorful this weekend thanks to some newly painted crosswalks.
“We want to send the strong message that we value and protect D.C. values,” said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser at 17th and Church Streets Friday morning. She and dozens of activists and city officials put the finishing touches on the first of nearly a dozen crosswalks that will bear rainbow colors in honor of gay pride.
Eight crosswalks along 17th Street will get the rainbow treatment on Saturday. An additional crosswalk will be painted in the colors marking transgender pride.
“We want to really highlight the fact that we need to do more for our transgender family members,” said Randy Downs, a Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner and member of the Advisory Committee for the Office of LGBTQ Affairs.
But the art doesn’t end with the Capital Pride events. The mayor has put out a call for designs for four storm drains on 17th Street to raise awareness about stormwater pollution and to promote the neighborhood’s LGBTQ identity.
The deadline for submitting designs is June 16.
