If you've been in Hamilton recently, you may have noticed the new Pride Colors adorning the windows of Chapter One Book Store - but what you might not know is that there's a bit of a lengthy story behind it.

Before there was ever any inkling of putting the colors up in the store, a group of students in the Bitterroot were attempting to gain permission to paint four crosswalks in downtown Hamilton with colors that symbolized the LGBTQ+ Pride flag. They created a proposal and took it to the city council, which resulted in a meeting this week to discuss the project. Several Hamilton residents ended up attending the meeting to speak against the project, and the city council not only denied the students their proposal, they also effectively shut down all pavement painting within Hamilton city limits in the future.

And that seemed like it would be the end of the story, but Chapter One Book Store co-owner Mara Lynn Luther got in touch with the students who organized the proposal, and gave them free rein to use the windows of her store to express themselves artistically. And they did just that, painting the windows with pride colors and words of acceptance and speaking out against hatred.

Chapter One Book Store showed off the photos on Facebook this week, and the comments are all supportive, with many saying that the store just earned their business with this move.

Have you seen the Pride colors decorating Chapter One Book Store yet?

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