LA Receives First Rainbow Crosswalk on 50th Anniversary of Stonewall Riot

On the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riot, Los Angeles received its first rainbow crosswalk. 

The City of LA and Venice Pride organization a commemoration ceremony today, outside of Roosterfish in Venice, where the crosswalk is located. Roosterfish is a gay bar that was successfully reopened last year with the help of Venice Pride.

The permanent crossing is modeled after the iconic rainbow crosswalks in the Castro District of San Francisco. There is a rainbow crosswalk already in the City of West Hollywood, at Robertson Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard and in the City of Long Beach, along the strip of gay bars on Broadway Avenue.

“While there were many notable historic events on the road to equality before this event, notably some significant ones in Los Angeles including the Black Cat and Doughnut Riots, Stonewall is widely hailed as the beginning of the modern LGBT civil rights movement and culminated in the first Pride March (later adapted into parade format),” Venice Pride stated in a press release. “Stonewall is a historical gay bar located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City.”

Venice Pride thanked Mike Bonin, Sheila Kuehl, Ben Allen and Autumn Burke for their commitment to LGBTQ+ equality.  

“A rainbow crosswalk on @abbotkinneyblvd at the doorstep of storied gay bar – what a colorful way to end Pride Month in L.A! We look forward to dedicating the crosswalk with the City of L.A. in recognition of #Stonewall50 and celebrating all we have achieved since ‘69. You fill us with pride and joy,” the Facebook post continued.

The unveiling of the new rainbow crosswalk took place at Roosterfish, located at 1302 Abbot Kinney Blvd. Speakers in attendance were: Taylor Bazley, Office of L.A. City Councilmember Mike Bonin; Lisa Lubchansky, Board Member, Venice Pride; Grant Turck, Board President, Venice Pride; Michael Weinstein, President, Aids Healthcare Foundation; Will Gaines, Office of State Senator Ben Allen; David Dancer, Chief Marketing Officer, MedMen; Stephanie Cohen, Office of Supervisor Sheila Kuhel ; Kim Sharp, Abbot Kinney Festival Association; Erinn Berkson, Abbot Kinney Merchant’s Association; Mario Vollera, Partner, Roosterfish; Ari Ruiz, Office of Assemblywoman Autumn Burke