Summerland is celebrating diversity with two new rainbow crosswalks in the community.
The crosswalks were painted Thursday night at the corner of Main Street and Kelly Avenue, right in front of the new Public Library, and on Victoria Road, halfway between Main Street and Jubilee Road West.
Councillor Erin Trainer first introduced the idea of the rainbow crosswalks in early August.
Director of Corporate Services for the District, Jeremy Denegar, didn’t know exactly what it cost to paint the sidewalks, but did say it would have been the same or less than painting a regular crosswalk.
Funding to paint the crosswalks came from already budgeted money to upgrade crosswalks in Summerland.
Kelowna was the first Okanagan community to unveil rainbow crosswalks. On August 6th residents were surprised to find four rainbow crosswalks at the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Pandosy Street in the downtown.
A rainbow crosswalk was also installed in Nelson.
The rainbow is a symbol of the LGBTQ community and stands for inclusiveness and diversity. Each colour means something different: red standing for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for harmony, and purple/violet for spirit.
