Whether or not a rainbow crosswalk will be popping up in Merritt is uncertain, however, a rainbow parking lot is a pretty good plan B.
On Feb. 27, the city council in Merritt rejected an application from School District 58 for the installation of a rainbow-coloured crosswalk on the west side of the intersection of Coldwater Avenue and Chapman Street.
In a touching twist, the Merritt Secondary School has been offered up some parking lot space in Merritt, owned by Vancouver lawyers Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko. The two lawyers own adjoining lots in the city and are more than willing to help the students with their inclusive initiative.
“I own a parking lot in Downtown Merritt. If the high school students want to paint the whole lot rainbow, I’ll let them and I’ll even donate to the cost of the paint,” Lee tweeted in response to the story.
I also own a paved parking lot in Merritt and I too offer my lot to these wonderful young people for their project. And I too offer to contribute. Let’s get it done!
— Paul Doroshenko, Q.C. (@PaulDoroshenko) March 2, 2018
“I also own a paved parking lot in Merritt and I too offer my lot to these wonderful young people for their project. And I too offer to contribute. Let’s get it done!” said Doroshenko.
Doroshenko said on his twitter that the decision by the city to not support the initiative has got to be disappointing for the students.
Whether or not their offer will be accepted remains to be seen, but people are touched by the story all over social media.
So a few years back @IRPlawyer asked me if I’d be interested in buying a parking lot in Merritt. And I said, I love Merritt and I’d even be interested in owning a rusty bicycle in Merritt.
— Paul Doroshenko, Q.C. (@PaulDoroshenko) March 3, 2018
Who knew our 2 parking lots would become part of an important statement by the students. pic.twitter.com/eTkNzDsO85
This is amazing. Thanks goes to the students for starting it all off. šš
— Nancy Bepple (@NancyBepple) March 3, 2018
Rainbow crosswalks have been popping up in many cities, including Kelowna, Victoria, Kamloops, Vancouver, Prince George and Vernon, and were created to support the LGBTQ communities.
