Bozeman to Paint 8 Crosswalks Rainbow Colors In Honor of LGBTQ+ Pride

The city streets in Bozeman are about to be a little more colorful.  

The City of Bozeman, along with Gender Equality Montana and the Downtown Bozeman Partnership to announce the decision, which will find parts of Wilson and Mendenhall (8 crosswalks in all) painted with the colors of the rainbow in a show of solidarity with Montana's LGBTQ+ community. 

Jeff Mihelich, Bozeman's City Manager, told KBZK news, "I think a lot of people in the city of Bozeman crave diversity and want to see more people in this community of different races, creeds and colors and however anybody identifies themselves, we want them to feel respected here."

In 2018, Missoula also painted some of its crosswalks to raise awareness of the same issue.  In that case there was at least one case of deliberate defacement, which under Montana State Law qualifies as a hate crime providing the act “damages, destroys, or defaces any property of another or any public property" though no special provisions for sexual orientation or gender identity are currently included.

The crosswalks should be finished by the end of this week, providing a splash of color to the downtown area.