As WorldPride takes over New York City this weekend and we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the Big Apple will be painted rainbow.
Several iconic landmarks, including the Empire State Building (above), Madison Square Garden and One World Trade Center will be lit up in colorful hues. But throughout the entire month, solidarity has been reflected across the United States – and the world. Here are eight of our favorite rainbow makeovers from NYC and beyond.
1. FDR Four Freedoms State Park, Roosevelt Island, NY
To coincide with WorldPride, FDR Four Freedoms State Park has rolled out NYC’s largest rainbow flag. The park’s monumental staircase has been updated with red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple panels, sending a twelve by 100 foot celebratory message.
2. The Oculus, New York City, NY
Two Australian artists, architect Maurice Goldberg and film and stage designer Matthew Aberline, unveiled their “Live 4 Love” art installation at the Oculus. At surface level, the piece is an enormous, inflatable spectacle, but hidden in its vibrant aesthetic are deeper messages: In one section, for instance, is an homage to Keith Haring. Another corner displayed a pink triangle, the symbol used by the Nazis to mark and target homosexuals, and later associated with the AIDS epidemic.
3. Aqua Bar and Nightclub, Key West, FL
Artist Lisa Marie Thalhammer was commissioned to create a mural inspired by the Stonewall riots in time for Key West’s Pride celebration. The piece, titled “Spirit of Stonewall,” is displayed outside of the popular Aqua nightclub.
4. Exit 82 Theatre Company, Toms River, NJ
For the first time in its 252-year history, the pride flag was raised over Toms River, NJ.. Exit 82 Theatre Company gifted the flag to the town. The city made national headlines nearly 14 years ago when the all-Republican Ocean County Board of Freeholders denied terminally-ill detective, the late Lt. Laurel Hester, the right to will her pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree. Toms River Pride named Lt. Hester and Andree as the inaugural Grand Marshalls of the historic event.
5. Illinois State Capitol, Springfield, IL
A pride flag flew brightly over the Illinois State Capitol this month, marking the first time in history the flag has flown above the Springfield building. Rep. Greg Harris, the state’s first openly gay House majority leader, took to Instagram to explain that the rainbow flag came from The Phoenix Center, an LGBTQ Community Center for central Illinois.
6. California State Capitol, Sacramento, CA
Illinois wasn’t the only state capitol building to fly the Pride flag for the first time in 2019: Colorado, Wisconsin and California were among the states that joined in the festivities this year. “At a time when the Trump Administration is forbidding U.S. embassies and consulates around the world from raising pride flags, we are sending the message that we acknowledge and respect LGBTQ people, and they have a home here in California,” Assemblymember Todd Gloria, Vice Chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said.
7. US Embassy, New Delhi, India
The Trump administration banned foreign embassies from flying Pride flags this month, but that didn’t stop the US Embassy in New Delhi from finding a loophole. It just lit up its whole building instead. American embassies in Seoul, Istanbul and Oslo also found ways around the administrations ridiculous orders.
8. Boystown, Chicago, IL
Fourteen crosswalks on Chicago’s North Side got colorful facelifts for June. While most of the intersections featured a rainbow design, one crosswalk at Melrose was painted in white, blue and pink to represent the transgender community.
Related:Instagram rolls out the rainbow carpet with a whole bunch of new Pride features
