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Small NJ Town Gets Permanent Pride Crosswalks

Maplewood is the first town in New Jersey to have permanent rainbow crosswalks.

A small New Jersey town is now the proud home of permanent rainbow crosswalks to honor the LGBTQ community, a first for the state.

Maplewood unveiled the crosswalks on Thursday as part of an initiative, undertaken in conjunction with neighboring South Orange, to celebrate Pride throughout the month of June.

They came just in time for this past weekend's New Jersey Pride Festival, held in the town's Memorial Park Amphitheater.

"We wanted to do something that would serve as a permanent marker or symbol of our commitment to inclusion," Dean Dafis, the first openly LGBTQ Maplewood Township Committee member, told NJ.com. It was Dafis who got the idea for the crosswalks.

"I wanted it to be something you can encounter every day. We want our youth in particular—perhaps those struggling to find their way, those in need of empowerment and affirmation—to proudly cross or walk over their fear and self doubt."

In addition to showing support for acceptance and inclusion, the brightly painted crosswalks serve a practical function by drawing the attention of motorists, Dafis noted.

"One of our residents' biggest concerns in town is pedestrian safety," he said, calling the $3,000 spent on the new paint job a "cheap traffic-calming measure."

Resident Jennifer Bass called the town of just over 20,000 "tight-knit," adding, "when you have that, it's hard not to be inclusive and want everyone to feel safe and happier."

"I think this town is more than open to this kind of thing," Bass added.

Other U.S. cities with permanent rainbow crosswalks include Seattle, Philadelphia, San Francisco, West Hollywood, Key West, and Miami Beach.

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