Rainbow crosswalks painted in Philadelphia's Gayborhood for Pride
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The rainbow crosswalks in Philadelphia's Gayborhood are back! They were painted over the weekend, and it comes just in time for Pride celebrations to begin next week.
"Historically it matters to make sure that the neighborhood is loud and proud," Gabrielle Corsaro, of Philadelphia, says.
Making a statement in the Gayborhood.
The talk of the Center City Philadelphia neighborhood is the newly painted rainbow crosswalks.
"It just adds so much vitality to the area and the community and certainly to the intersection. It's just beautiful," Corsaro says.
"They add a lot of vibrancy to the community. It is also called the Gayborhood," one resident says.
The rainbow crosswalks were painted over the weekend.
They're at the intersections of 13th and Locust and 12th and Locust.
The crosswalks represent the progress Pride flag.
In addition to the traditional Pride flag, there are also stripes symbolizing people of color and the transgender community.
"They're much brighter than the last few years I feel. A lot of representation," Ren Soto, of Philadelphia, says.
The rainbow crosswalks aren't new, they've been in Center City for a while, but they've been repainted going into Pride month.
Tyrell Brown is the Executive Director of Galaei, the nonprofit that is organizing this year's pride celebrations.
"I'm expecting a really robust, big weekend, big month," he says.
The theme is "love, light, and liberation."
They will be held on the weekend of June 2. A festival will be held in the Gayborhood.
Once again, they are calling it a march, not a parade
"We really want to embrace the roots of activism and organizing that our community has embraced forever and that has brought us to this point," Brown says.
Back to the crosswalks, they were first painted in 2015, but this time the Philadelphia Streets Department says they're painted with a material that's similar to other road markings in hopes they'll be more durable.
"If you're going to have a neighborhood that's proud of its history and its future and its present there has to be things like this that are beautiful and artistic," Corsaro says.
