New Pride crosswalk unveiled in Downtown Spokane

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Pride crosswalk in Downtown Spokane received a makeover this weekend, bringing a renewed sense of energy to the riverfront.

The crosswalk at North Howard Street and Spokane Falls Boulevard now features a newly painted progress Pride flag mural, a redesign of the classic Pride flag.

"It just means equality and love for all, no matter who you are," said Matthew Danielson, Executive Director at Spokane Pride.

The makeover comes after an incident last fall in which vandals covered the previous Pride crosswalk with paint and tire marks, as well as the mural's deterioration over time.

Similar threats have already been made toward the new crosswalk on the Spokane Pride Facebook page.

"I'm actually a little worried about what it's going to look like with Pride, especially with all those screeching tire emojis I've been getting on our Facebook post about this," said Danielson.

Last month, Governor Inslee signed a Spokane-inspired law updating the state's hate crime laws to include any vandalism of public property.

"I definitely reminded some of the people on our Facebook post that this is now considered a hate crime if you deface this," said Danielson. "I'm very happy that came through."

This year's Spokane Pride celebration will take place on June 8. Danielson said he looks forward to celebrating, in spite of the negativity.

"I can tell you how I deal with it. We play eighties pop music, and when they show up, we turn it up and we play Taylor Swift and we tell them that haters are going to hate and that's fine," said Danielson.

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