Rainbow flag | The Adobo Chronicles

Rainbow-colored pedestrian crosswalk on Santa Monica and San Vicente Boulevards in West Hollywood

West Hollywood, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – In just the last 15 months, four pedestrians crossing the streets of West Hollywood have reportedly been killed — all of whom were hit by motorists.

In addition to the deaths, several people have been injured, including a man hit by a car early Tuesday just steps away from popular gay establishments like the Abbey and P.U.M.P. Lounge. He is the third persons hit by a car on Santa Monica Boulevard since June this year.

West Hollywood Police investigating the rising number of pedestrian accidents said that all cases seem to point to road rage and that all perpetrators were homophobic drivers.

One of the perpetrators, a West Hollywood resident, told police he is outraged at the shameless display of homosexuality in his neighborhood, particularly the painting of crosswalks in rainbow colors. “Not all of us who live in West Hollywood are homosexual,” the man said,” so why do they have to flaunt their gay-ness when it does not represent all of us in the neighborhood?”

Crosswalks in San Francisco’s gay Castro district are also scheduled to be painted in rainbow colors and residents are weary that it could lead to hate-related pedestrian accidents similar to those in West Hollywood.

San Francisco, California – First, it painted its bike lanes in green, then its MUNI train tracks in red. Now, the City and County of San Francisco has entered into a multi-million contract with Sherwin-Williams, the third largest paint company in the world, for a total make-over of its thousands of pedestrian lanes. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and the County Board of Supervisors have jointly approved the project which is expected to start in September with a completion date slated sometime in January of next year. The painting project will be implemented in several phases, starting with the entire stretch of Market Street – from Castro to the Embarcadero. Lee and the gay members of the board of supervisors will participate in a ceremonial painting of the first crosswalk on Market and Castro Streets at 9am on September 1st.

Unlike the boring, single color paint used for the bike lanes and MUNI train tracks, the new pedestrian lanes will be painted in a succession of the rainbow colors: ROYGBV ROYGBIV ROYGBIV and so on.

While admitting that the cost of the project will be a burden to the city’s coffers, the mayor and supervisors assured the public that the return on investment will be three-fold. It will also seal San Francisco’s reputation as the “Gayest City in the World.”