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'Love Wall' celebrates 10 years with fresh new paint

The 'Toledo Loves Love' mural right off Adams Street is a big part of the LGBTQIA+ community. The wall received a little TLC to celebrate 10 years since completion.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Adams Street is known for everything blanketed in vibrant colors; from its crosswalks, poles, trash cans and the flags that represent the LGBTQIA+ community. More recently, it added a lot more color to its "Toledo Loves Love" wall.

Brent Rabie is the Deputy Director at Equality Toledo and is one of the people who take pride in the mural.

"It's kind of become a staple and people take their wedding photos here and it's got a new fresh coat of paint," Rabie said.

It's that staple Rabie says that brings the community closer symbolizing love and equality for everybody within his organization and out of it.

"I think it just kind of speaks to what we're trying to do as a community: 'Toledo Loves Love.' We're trying to build that concept," he said.

Rachel Richardson helped envision the wall back in 2012 with the help of local artists.

Credit: Emma Henderson

At the time, the materials were donated, the paint was $1,000 and the artists weren't paid. They did it as a gesture of love.

10 years later, the wall still remains and is revamped with help from the original artists and fresh paint funded by donations that cost around $15,000 that paid the artists and materials. The unveiling took place Friday at 4 p.m. outside Georgjz419.

Credit: Trent Croci

The same message remains, but a decade later, the new paint comes during a time when the community is facing new challenges.

"Scary things happening in our country right now and people are feeling a little worried with the overturning of Roe v. Wade," Rabie said

That impact on rights includes cisgender women, transgender men, intersex and gender-nonconforming individuals and isn't limited to any one group or sexuality.

"There's a lot of people that are in our community that do use abortion services and the healthcare they need," he said.

But like the Love Wall, Rabie loves love too, as he said everyone deserves an equal opportunity to succeed and an equal opportunity to love.

The unveiling of the new love wall is just the start of events to come for the community this weekend as the March for Trans Justice will be Saturday at noon and the Love Fest will start at 4 p.m.

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