A motorcyclist leaves skid marks on Brunswick’s pride crosswalk in 2022. Courtesy of Moderation Brewing
Brunswick will paint a Maine Street crosswalk in rainbow colors again this spring to celebrate Pride Month after motorcycle-riding vandals purposely left skid marks on the crosswalk last year.
The Town Council on Monday unanimously approved the plan for the third year in a row, saying it’s an important symbol that shows Brunswick supports the LGBTQ+ community.
“As a lesbian and having grown up in this town, I can’t tell you how proud I am of how accepting this town is,” said Councilor Kathy Wilson, who along with fellow Councilor Dan Ankeles first proposed the colored crosswalk in 2021. “Having something like that out there so we know we are accepted by the majority of the people is heartening.”
Last year, two motorcyclists vandalized the crosswalk on Maine Street by leaving tire marks. Resident Nathan MacDonald told councilors he was glad they decided to paint the crosswalk again this year.
The LGBTQ+ pride crosswalk on Maine Street in Brunswick last year. Courtesy of Liz Armstrong
“Symbolically, it’s important that we repaint it to show that this isn’t something that’s going to go away just because two people decided that they wanted to do that,” said MacDonald, who is the board president of Queerly ME, a nonprofit that supports the Maine LGBTQ+ community. “There’s a lot of us here. Being able to do something this simple to show that folks are welcome in this space is something that could be easily achieved.”
Councilor David Watson was concerned about the legal implications if someone gets hit by a car in the crosswalk; Ankeles said colored crosswalks are approved by the state Department of Transportation and said the department studied them and determined they act as a traffic-calming measure, increasing safety.
“This is a happy, unintended consequence of doing this, so I’m in full support,” Ankeles said.
Councilor Abby King pointed to studies that document mental health issues among LGBTQ+ youths.
“Everything we can do as a town to show this community we support them, we should be doing,” King said.
The painted crosswalk will be on Maine Street, starting near Everett Street and continuing to the Town Mall. It will be painted by the end of May to coincide with Pride Month in June; the Brunswick Pride Festival is June 10.
Councilor Nathaniel Shed said the town should do more to support the LGBTQ+ community in the future by hanging flags or banners.
“People deserve to come into a town and see that, ‘Oh, it’s OK to be here,’ ” Shed said.
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