A splash of color in the streets

At the intersections of Tracy and Babcock as well as Mendenhall and Willson, downtown Bozeman is brighter than ever. With eight new rainbow-painted crosswalks, the city has recently displayed its inclusivity and respect for the LGBTQ+ community, as well as gender and racially diverse individuals.

11 colors appear in the four crosswalks downtown. The standard rainbow colors, for the lesbian, gay, transgender and queer individuals, as well as black and brown, which represents the racial and gender intersections, and finally white, light blue and pink to symbolize gender and transgender diversity.

Noell Goll is a sixth-generation Montanan who lived in San Francisco, a very LGBTQ+-friendly city, during the 1990s. “The crosswalk is symbolic of Bozeman’s progression from being a closed-minded western town to a place that welcomes and celebrates diversity,” Goll said.

Christopher Guenther, Co-President of MSU’s Queer Straight Alliance, has an alternative opinion. “It’s relatively performative. The crosswalks are nice, but if you’re not going to support queer businesses or people in the area, and you’re not going to provide funding for them or for the youth centers and other programs, what does it really matter if you have [the painted crosswalks] or not?”

According to the Census Bureau, Bozeman is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan cities in the country. However, progress still needs to be made to create inclusivity for all. According to Guenter, this can be achieved by supporting LGBTQ+ businesses in Bozeman. You can support businesses that are attributed as “LGBTQ-friendly” and “Transgender Safe Space” when searching for a business on Google, as well as Black-owned shops in Bozeman.

Throughout history, members of the LGBTQ+ community have been discriminated against. In major cities throughout the world and the U.S., police have been accused of discriminating against those who are gay, queer, trans or bisexual. A study conducted by the Williams Institute found that 22% of transgender respondents felt harassed by law enforcement due to their biases.

“You also have the police that is funded so massively, who routinely harass trans and queer people. It’s a nice crosswalk, but your city isn’t necessarily more safe or fair or equitable in any way towards its people,” Guenther said.

One of the newly commissioned crosswalks was defaced only 24 hours after it had been painted with skid marks. The two black streaks covering this pride symbol were a distraction from the spectrum of colors that were meant to open eyes and display a sense of equality in the first place.

Though the symbol was vandalized, nearly 100 local businesses came out in support of the proposal to make Bozeman safer and more welcoming for members of all communities. With the changing culture and the influx of new ideas and thoughts, Bozeman is transforming to become more reflective of the 21st century. Next time you are downtown, you can take pleasure in the fact that Bozeman is making strides to become a more tolerant city.