EMMAUS, Pa. — The Emmaus Borough Council voted to approve a Kiwanis Club-sponsored mural design with one significant condition: the rainbow must be altered to include more greens and blues.

The decision came during the May 19th council meeting when Hattie Fraye, interim treasurer of the Emmaus Arts Commission, presented a mural design for the Williams Street / Kiwanis Fields, sponsored by the Emmaus Kiwanis Club.

Council President Chad Balliet explained the hesitancy that the council and the Parks and Recreation Committee shared, citing the rainbow design as their only issue with the proposal.

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“I think the biggest pushback we got was probably from the rainbow,” Balliet said during the meeting. “It’s a shame, you know, what a rainbow has come to, you know, represent and I think we want to go with something a little more long-term neutral in our community.”

The council voted to approve the mural with the modification that the rainbow be changed to incorporate more greens and blues to match the Kiwanis newsletter colors. Councilperson Shana Baumgartner cast the lone dissenting vote.

“No. I have an issue with the condition, not the mural,” Baumgartner said.

The decision comes as Pride Month approaches in June, with several LGBTQ+ celebrations planned throughout the Lehigh Valley.

kiwanis group rainbow mural emmaus pushback-2
Other proposed mural designs for buildings in the area

Balliet’s reference to what “a rainbow has come to represent” appears to allude to the widely recognized use of rainbow imagery as a symbol of LGBTQ+ pride and inclusivity since the 1970s, causing public outrage as to why this symbolism is in Balliet’s words, “a shame”. 

The main Lehigh Valley Pride event, organized by the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, is scheduled for August 17th at the SteelStacks in Bethlehem, featuring more than 300 vendors, artists and community organizations. Smaller Pride events typically occur throughout June in various municipalities across the region.

Heather Harlen, a “progressive Independent voter” who brought this issue to public attention, and several other local social groups including the mutual aid Instagram page @queertranslv are taking action by contacting members of the council via email.

Borough council meetings are held monthly and are open to the public.