(Photo via Allison Mcintyre’s Instagram)
ORLANDO | Allison McIntyre created rainbow crosswalk pins after the crosswalk outside of the Pulse Nightclub memorial was painted over by the Florida Department of Transportation.
After brainstorming with her dad, McIntyre came up with a way to protest the repainted crosswalk and support the LGBTQ+ community in a way that’s accessible to everyone.
“We were just talking in the car about ways to make protesting this situation and supporting the LGBTQ+ community more accessible for people, because not everyone is able to physically be out there at sidewalk chalk protests or physically be present to protest,” McIntyre shares.
McIntyre donates 100% of the proceeds from the pin sales directly to the LGBT+ Center Orlando to help support the local LGBTQ+ community.
“In the conversations that I had with friends and community around me, I wanted to see where the people in Orlando wanted to see the funds go,” McIntyre explains. “I did some research, I talked to people and a lot of people recommended the Center.”
McIntyre created the design and worked with the company Wizard Pins to produce them. Originally she had only ordered 100 but since she’s already sold 50, she is now thinking of purchasing more since the demand is high.
What began as McIntyre delivering these pins individually to family and friends has now spread past Orlando, with shipping across the U.S. available online. People can now go to the website and fill out the form with their information to get the pins directly shipped to them.
“I’ve shipped pins to like across the country, people from out of the state have bought pins, so it’s been really exciting to see the project expand beyond what I expected,” McIntyre says.
Specializing in painting, she also sells prints depicting nature and wildlife with proceeds going towards benefiting wildlife conservation initiatives.
Pins can be purchased on McIntyre’s website and Instagram.
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