Read more at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
A Walker’s Point intersection will soon be bursting with color — new rainbow crosswalks.
The Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project announced Aug. 1 that the City of Milwaukee’s Paint the Pavement program has approved the crosswalks at the corner of South Second Street and West National Avenue.
They’ll be installed by Oct. 1. in honor of National LGBTQ History Month.
The crosswalks honor “the changemakers who’ve been creating safe spaces for our community for over eight decades,” a Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project news release said.
The project is entirely funded by donors, sponsors and grants. Artist Jeremy Novy, who has been decorating Milwaukee streets with his koi fish since 2006, will design the crosswalks. The koi fish will be part of the design, too.
Novy’s design includes all the colors associated with the LGBTQ community and conveys the message that Walker’s Point is everyone’s neighborhood.
“This is a place of belonging, and if you’re coming here, you have to be respectful,” said Michail Takach, the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project’s president and chair.
The Friendly Bar, Walker Point’s first known gay bar, opened in 1944. Fluid Milwaukee is located where the Friendly Bar once was, at 819 S. Second St.
“I think that a lot of people are shocked when we tell them that there have been places for gay people to go in Walker’s Point since 1944,” Takach said.
Now, Walker’s Point is home to the seven surviving queer spaces in the city, according to the History Project.
“I’m very excited by this, and I think it’s been a long time coming,” said Dave Wolz, owner of La Cage Nite Club, 801 S. Second St., which has been open since 1984.
The crosswalks are meant to show that Walker’s Point is a safe space for LGBTQ people.
“The neighborhood will have this new symbol of acceptance, belonging, inclusion and safety,” Takach said.
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