Newport Out works with City Council to make a rainbow connection on city streets

NEWPORT — The area surrounding Equality Park on Broadway could be getting a little more colorful.

The City Council on Wednesday night will consider a resolution asking the city to work alongside the organization Newport Out to paint the three nearby crosswalks in rainbow colors “as a symbol of support and inclusivity for one of the most marginalized communities” in the U.S.

Newport Out was founded by Sean O’Connor and Daniel Cano Restrepo as a resource for visitors to the city who fall under the LBGTQ umbrella. They travel often and learned of rainbow crosswalks in other places, big and small — Atlanta; Plymouth, Massachusetts; and Ames, Iowa — and felt such crosswalks would be a nice addition near Equality Park.

“We think it’s important because it’s just a very outward and visible display of welcome,” O’Connor said. “When we talk about the (LGBTQ) community, it’s a really broad community that transcends gender, race, socio-economic status. We all have and know LGBTQ people in our lives. To have this in our city, when local young people encounter it, when visitors encounter it, it really tells them that this is a place that recognizes you and welcomes and accepts you.”

O’Connor said he met with City Council members Angela McCalla and Charlie Holder, both of whom are co-sponsors of the resolution along with Jamie Bova and Elizabeth Fuerte, as well as City Manager Joseph J. Nicholson Jr. to discuss the idea. All of them were supportive, he said.

“There’s some good energy behind it now,” O’Connor said.

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The resolution says Newport is a “vibrant, forward-looking, and welcoming community built upon a strong sense of place and cultural heritage. … We are committed to charting a course for our future that embraces and encourages safety and inclusion for all.”

Painting of the crosswalks — expected to be a permanent installation, O’Connor said — will not have any fiscal impact on taxpayers as the cost will fall on the Newport Out organization. O’Connor said he’s lined up sponsors to help pay for it, including the Joe Fitzpatrick Team at Remax.

“I think in other cities, we saw different models where the city purely funded it, or the city plus a sponsor, or it was just the community that sponsored it apart from city tax dollars,” he said. “We’ve just tried to be as independent as possible, so we aren’t relying on city tax dollars to support this. Because we don’t want that to be a barrier if that presented itself as a barrier.”

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Each June, during National Pride Month, the city raises a rainbow flag from City Hall. O’Connor said should the resolution pass, he will meet with William Riccio, the city’s director of public services, to hash out the details and hopes to have it done ahead of the Newport Pride celebration slated for June 24-26.

If that timeline cannot be met, getting the crosswalks painted is the most important thing.

“We have to keep our eyes on the prize,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Rainbow crosswalks proposed for Newport streets near Equality Park