Reno, NV., also known as the "Biggest Little City in the World," just got a whole lot bigger this month in a historic display of Pride. The City installed a temporary rainbow sidewalk on Tuesday, June 8.
The colorful decoration is located just beneath the iconic Reno Arch and will be removed after the Northern Nevada Pride (NNP) event on July 24, 2021.
Reno has experienced some controversy in regards to the LGBTQ+ community over the past six years. In 2015 some residents got heated because the American flag atop City Hall was replaced with a Pride flag for NNP.
Two years later the Reno City Council passed a resolution extolling their acceptance as a "Welcoming City" and its commitment to building a friendly atmosphere where integration and acceptance are a part of their virtual mission statement.
However, in 2018 their LGBTQ+ Pride Center was vandalized with $10K worth of damage. Then in 2019, the community was put on alert after a man representing the hate group called The Salt and Light Brigade descended upon the tiny city spewing hate speech with a bullhorn.
To some that may not seem like a big deal, but to a tight-knit small community such as Reno it causes alarm. Since then, the Reno City Council has established six Tier 1 priorities and seven Tier 2 priorities. You can read that credo HERE.
The installation of a rainbow sidewalk is a neighborly beacon to residents, and travelers, in a city that can loosely be described as the Palm Springs of Northern California. People wishing to escape Northern California's bigger metropolises flock to Reno for Pride, enjoying the smaller crowds, beautiful landscape, great summer weather, and legalized gambling. Additionally, Lake Tahoe is only 37 miles away.
Header photo courtesy of Paco Lachoy.