Springdale council won’t paint rainbow crosswalk
Town stands by previous decision to reject request by student group
Springdale council has upheld its decision to deny the Indian River High Gender Sexuality Alliance’s (GSA) request to paint a rainbow crosswalk in the town.
The decision was announced Monday in a news release.
“We stand by our decision not to construct a rainbow crosswalk; however, we are working to find another way to show our support for (the) important work the Gender Sexuality Alliance is doing in our community and at Indian River High School,” the release states.
The original request was denied by a 4-3 margin at an April 9 public meeting of council. Media coverage of the decision sparked nationwide interest. There was a tremendous amount of support for the students and the GSA, as well as harsh criticism of council and some residents of Springdale.
Others supported council for taking a stand against setting a precedent for similar requests and the mayor’s stated belief that such a symbol would cause division in the community rather than promote inclusion.
In Monday’s news release, Mayor Dave Edison reiterated the town’s support of its residents regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs or sexual orientation.
Council appears to accept some blame for the negative attention its decision generated.
“We recognize that we could have done a better job in communicating our decision to reject the application by the Gender Sexuality Alliance at the council meeting on April 9,” Edison said in the statement. “We sincerely apologize for not doing a better job explaining our rationale which triggered extensive media coverage and criticism of the town.
“We also apologize to anyone or any group that may have been offended by our decision. Under no circumstance is anyone on our council against inclusion or acceptance of an individual’s sexual orientation, or the way in which they choose to live.”
Again, Edison said the decision was not a negative reflection or lack of support toward the LGBTQ+ community, and council does support that community.
“And for that reason we recognize our decision was taken in a way different from its intent, and we will work now to rectify this situation,” he stated.
Members of the school’s GSA met with council to present more information at a public meeting April 23. Council stated it is committed to working with the group to explore options to acknowledge their work and respecting the views of all citizens.
During the meeting, Coun. Rhodes Pelley asked the group if there was anything else besides the rainbow crosswalk that council could do in support of the cause.
Megan Paddock, an Indian River High student, replied that the crosswalk was the Number 1 priority.