New Rainbow Crosswalks Mark Milwaukee’s LGBTQ+ History

Opening of the rainbow crosswalks at the intersection of S. 2nd St. and W. National Ave. Photo by Michael Hone.

Eighty years ago in the gritty industrial neighborhood of Walker’s Point, its smoke-blackened buildings showed few signs of color, save for the glowing embers of factory furnaces and the neon beer signs shining in tavern windows.

Around that time, as soldiers transitioned to civilian life, some bars added a new color to the street by illuminating the stoop with a single blue light bulb. At the time, and up to nearly the end of the century, this was a sure sign that a gay bar lay beyond the front door. Eventually more and more blue lights shone, until the district, centered at the intersection of S. 2nd Street and W. National Avenue had one of the highest concentrations of gay-friendly spaces anywhere in the nation.

This has been documented by the ambitious Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project, which has revealed many previously lost stories from that furtive era, thanks in part to the dogged efforts of Michail Takach.

The neighborhood is much brighter today in its post-industrial incarnation, where gleaming apartment buildings and world-class restaurants now line the streets.  To celebrate the transformation, the history project and the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center teamed up with the community and public officials to decorate the crosswalks outside La Cage nightclub, 801 S. 2nd St.

Within the past week, the paint was applied, and stenciled koi fish swam in circles on the sidewalk. The fish are a gift of Jeremy Novy, a Wisconsin-born, California-based street artist who has released his version of Cyprinus rubrofuscus nationwide since 2001.

On Monday, Oct. 6, the crosswalks were dedicated in a celebration that drew over 100 to that fabled intersection, described as a “Living, breathing archive on the streets of Milwaukee right beneath our feet.”

Mayor Delivers Message of Inclusion

Mayor Cavalier Johnson made an appearance shortly after the 5 p.m. program commenced, walking across the vibrant crosswalk leading from Steny’s Tavern & Grill, the straight neighbor located across the street from La Cage. He had to pick his kids up after school, he explained, leading to the delay. In his remarks, the mayor celebrated “the legacy of 80 years” of the gay entertainment district, which for many of those years was conducted out of sight.

But his enthusiasm was not limited to the neighborhood, he made clear:

Everyone, everybody and every single person can feel safe in whoever they love everywhere in this city.

The mayor was joined by the two-person Milwaukee Common Council LGBTQ Caucus, they being alder buddies JoCasta Zamarripa and Peter Burgelis. Earlier, they posed for a selfie camera set up on the street, and seemed pleased, rather than disappointed, when it was photo-bombed by a reporter. Other elected officials included Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman and Sen. Tim Carpenter.

Council President José G. Pérez, who represents the district where the crosswalk is located, offered a cautionary tale, for this is also a neighborhood with a very high percentage of immigrants, and always has been. Nowadays they are under siege. He warned of the “poison that wants to wipe out our social progress.”

Even the prospectus for the crosswalk referenced anti-gay political activity, as in Florida, where similar walks have been painted over by state order:

In these challenging times, it is more important than ever that this project is 100% privately funded and 100% community-owned.

In the end, it is about more than paint and blacktop, although, Florida officials notwithstanding, a visible crosswalk is a safer crosswalk.

Earlier today, Novy, an unassuming individual with a Banskyesque mystique, posted this on his Facebook page, reflecting on the crosswalk and his role in it:

I don’t often talk about my personal life.
It’s moments like this I wish I could show my homophobic, drug- and alcohol-addicted family, that pretended to raise me until I moved out at the age of 16.
I MATTER!
It is a huge honor to bring a symbol of LGBT Pride to Milwaukee. The city (where) I found acceptance for being gay and got to live as my true gay self.

The History project continues to fundraise to maintain the new crosswalks.

The new rainbow crosswalks join the city’s first pair, which were installed in 2018 at the intersection of E. Wells and N. Jefferson streets.

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