During Pride Month this past June, at the flag-raising on June 1st in Stratford at Town Hall, Mayor Chess presented Colleen Hargrove, the founder of Love is Love, with a proclamation kicking off Pride Month. In his remarks, he said, “Well, Colleen, I could not be happier to announce that we are going to make that happen with you. Stratford will have a rainbow crosswalk, and I cannot wait to cross that crosswalk with you,” a statement which garnered cheers and applause.
And seemingly, just like that, there is now a rainbow crosswalk resting boldly on King Street, just beyond the bridge connecting the old Stratford High School to the new.
The ordinance for the rainbow crosswalk was approved by the Town Council within Mayor Chess’s first 100 days; it has taken far longer than the 100 days for Colleen’s efforts.
Conversations with the previous administration, under the leadership of then-Mayor Hoydick, began in 2024. It has taken Colleen over two years to get to the point where she, along with a handful of volunteers, and Mayor Chess, the rainbow crosswalk, as of June 24th, is here to stay.
Neighboring towns, like Westport, know all too well about what it takes to get a rainbow crosswalk from dream to reality. I spoke with Brian McGunagle, who led the charge in Westport, a process that also took over 2 years. “A few years of back and forth, then it moved really quickly. The thing that took the most time was finding a town road that Westport had jurisdiction over,” Brian said. For Colleen, the crosswalk is more than paint on a street.
“My hope has always been bigger than a painted crosswalk. My hope is to help build a Stratford where kindness wins, where differences are celebrated, and where everyone knows they belong. For Love Is Love Stratford, the crosswalk was never about changing a street—it was about changing the way people feel when they walk through our community,” she said in an interview with me.
There are towns across Connecticut (and nationally and globally, too) that have rainbow-painted sidewalks. From Middletown, CT toAtlanta, Georgia to Taipei, Taiwan, LGBTQIA+ communities exist in Stratford and beyond. On socials, there have been quite a few comments against the rainbow crosswalk. Some are angry that “they need a crosswalk,” and others are simply mad that Mayor Chess approved it and then made it happen without “going through the proper channels.”
Why does a rainbow crosswalk or a rainbow flag cause such emotion – whether it be negative or positive?
Let’s take the American flag, or the Pride flag, as examples. Both represent something to someone, and for some maybe nothing at all. With the painting of the rainbow crosswalk on King Street, near the bridge at Stratford High School connecting the old building to the new one. What we are building, as a community, whether it’s June or May or April, is that we are a community willing to advocate for our needs and our wants. In the words of Colleen Hargrove, who said, “When someone sees that rainbow crosswalk, I want them to know they’re welcome here. I want a teenager who’s struggling with their identity, a family visiting Stratford, or someone who’s spent years feeling invisible to look at it and think, ‘Maybe this town has a place for me now. That’s personal to me. I believe every person deserves to feel seen, respected, and valued. If something as simple as a crosswalk can start conversations, create understanding, and let even one person know they’re not alone, then every bit of effort was worth it.”
