Police were called to the scene at the behest of one protester
By SUNNY LIU — city@theaggie.org
On May 25, Davis Phoenix Coalition held its annual rainbow crosswalk painting at the intersections surrounding Central Park in preparation for Pride Month. Volunteers started gathering around the park after 5 a.m. and got to work at 5:30 a.m.
City Councilmember Gloria Partida, who organized the event, described the annual tradition.
“We do rainbow crosswalks every year, just before the month of June, which is Pride Month, and it’s a way to just make the celebration very visible,” Partida said.
Partida further described the history of the tradition and noted where members of the Davis Phoenix Coalition first got the idea.
“It’s been about a decade [since the first rainbow crosswalk painting],” Partida said. “We had seen, I think, that Sacramento had done their crosswalks. They had done a set of crosswalks in Sacramento, and there were other cities that were also doing this sort of [thing] as a show of support and solidarity with the LGBTQ community.”
Wendy Weitzel, who runs her own business newsletter in Davis, explained how long the crosswalk will be visible.
“Pride Month’s coming up, and [the crosswalk] usually lasts,” Weitzel said. “It’s […] a chalk-based paint, but it usually lasts through the month if it doesn’t rain.”
Dillan Horton, a yearly attendee at the event, described how the event fits into the wider pride celebration in Davis.
“In my mind, [the rainbow crosswalk painting is] like the first official event of Davis Pride Season, because we’re, you know, showing out here. […] We always end up encountering a bunch of runners and early birds who are moving throughout the community, who are really excited to see the sidewalks come back,” Horton said. “So it’s a thing that […] a lot of folks have gotten used to as a part of the community [and] as a part of Pride Season here in Davis.”
However, even after a decade of rainbow sidewalks in Davis, some attendees worry that a few residents still have not gotten used to the tradition. When asked about the possibility of protesters, Weitzel expressed her sentiment.
“[There will] probably [be protesters],” Weitzel said. “They usually can’t get up this early, so it takes a little [time], closer to 8 a.m. or so. But yeah, we got a lot of time. But you know, hopefully [we do] not [get any protestors].”
A little before 8 a.m., a group of three women showed up, two with signs, protesting the event. The event attendees quickly pulled out rainbow umbrellas and their own signs depicting phrases such as “Good vibes only.”
Beth Bourne, chapter chair of Moms for Liberty in Yolo County, held a sign reading “No child is born in the wrong body” and “Adult drag shows endanger kids.” She began using her phone to record the event and confronted attendees, but was instructed by a Davis Police officer to move off the drying crosswalk. Bourne commented on why she came out to protest the painting.
“There’s no reason we’re bringing young children to drag shows or having them paint crosswalks,” Bourne said. “My daughter was one of the first kids to learn about these, you know, opposite gender identities. […] She was going through distress, uncomfortable with her body because she was going through puberty. She thought she was a trans man.”
Another protester, who was identified as Dorte Jensen, weighed in on the crosswalk painting.
“I don’t really know why [they’re painting the crosswalks],” Jensen said. “I mean, they’re just crosswalks and it’s safer to just have them the way they are rather than painted up. We just don’t agree, and I want to get the word out, especially about children, that it’s not good, that they can’t consent when they’re under 18, so they shouldn’t be having any medical or social interventions. […] Trump is saying no, none of this for kids.”
At the end of the event, several police cars arrived on the scene at the behest of Bourne. Bourne subsequently filed a police report, alleging that someone had hit her in the head with an umbrella.
“As I’m trying to talk to different people, including […] Gloria Partida, […] [a person] kept trying to get in between us and then she put her umbrella really hard against [the] temple of my head,” Bourne said. “And we had witnesses and I have video so I just made a police report, that’s all. But you know, it’s the same thing that happened on April 3 [with] Turning Point USA […]. If I want to be there with signs, you have to just let me be there. Just ignore me. But [they’re] going around trying to intimidate me by putting umbrellas in my face so I can’t video.”
A video taken by Bourne posted on X shows an event attendee trying to block Bourne from viewing an interview between a journalist and Partida. As Partida was leaving, Bourne followed her while asking questions such as, “Why are children being sterilized at Holmes Junior High School?” Partida did not respond but continued to carry supplies to a car. Another event attendee commanded Bourne to “get off of” Partida while shoving an umbrella between Partida and Bourne. It is unclear from the video if and where Bourne allegedly got struck.
The Davis Phoenix Coalition was founded by concerned community members soon after 2013, when Partida’s son, Mikey Partida, experienced hate violence in Davis because of his sexual orientation. The incident left him hospitalized for two weeks.
The website explains the organization’s purpose every year in hosting Pride events.
“The Davis Phoenix Coalition exists to engage and unite the Davis community in eliminating intolerance, preventing hate, and promoting a broader civic culture that embraces all aspects of our diverse community,” the website reads.
The organization has multiple Pride events planned in June. Gloria Partida invited community members to come out and show support for the upcoming events.
“[The Pride Festival] is June 7,” Partida said. “At two o’clock, there will be a ‘Pride is a Protest’ before the festival happens, at Central Park. And then the festival itself is at Civic Park, and it goes from 3 to 8 p.m. And then the next day, June 8, is our run for equality, which starts at […] Central Park. […] We have a whole month of Pride activities that people can participate in. We have a skate, a comedy night, we have a trivia night — so all of these […] great events for people to come out and show support.”
Further information on Pride events from the Davis Phoenix Coalition can be found on the organization’s public calendar.
Written By: Sunny Liu — city@theaggie.org
