Community mourns girl, 12, who advocated for Guelph's first rainbow crosswalk

People in Guelph, Ont.,are remembering a 12-year-old girl who started a petition last fall, advocatingfor the city to install its first rainbow crosswalk.

Mattea Somerville died on Sunday evening from unknown causes, her family has said online. An autopsy is being done but they say it's expected to take several months.

Tasha Jameson, a cousin of Somerville's mother, told CBC the family is in shock by the girl's sudden death, but also overwhelmed by the community support it hasreceived in the past few days.

"She touched so many lives," Jameson said of Mattea's advocacy work. "People that didn't even have a direct relationship with her, she's affected how they see their community and it's really touching to see them reaching back out now."

In a public post on his Facebook page, Jake Somerville, Mattea's father, thankedpeople who had reached out.

"Please know your love and support means so much to us and we're going to need your help in the coming days and weeks," Jake Somerville wrote.

First rainbow crosswalk installed last month

One of those people was Barry Moore, chair of Out on the Shelf, an LGBTQ+ library in Guelph.

Moore said in an email to the family, which he shared with CBC News, that he wants people to know that "what Mattea did by starting that petition isn't just getting Guelph three rainbow crosswalks by next spring but it has also lead to [Stone Road] Mall and the city making a commitment to show ongoing support for the queer community here."

He said those commitments made the crosswalks more than just a "superficial symbol."

"I'm doing work with the mall and the city now that Mattea made possible and that honestly is so amazing," he wrote.

Stone Road Mall installed the city's first rainbow crosswalk in its parking lot. In a news release announcing the crosswalk last month, the mall's marketing manager Christina Magee said the decision to install the crosswalk was a direct result of Mattea's community petition.

"We want those people to know they made this possible; we heard you," Magee said of people who signed it.

Jameson says many people in Guelph including people who do not personally know the family but who are touched by what has happened to them have reached outto offer support in various ways.

Jameson says she hopes people remember Mattea for her advocacy work and her thoughtfulness.

"She was a very kind, very thoughtful girl," Jameson said. "Every parent aspires to have a child who, not only is as kind as she is, but also actions that kindness that has a ripple effect now that we have all these people reaching out and saying how much of an impact that really had on them."

Mattea's petition

Mattea Somerville started a petition on the website Change.org in the fall of 2021, asking Guelph city councillors to create a rainbow crosswalk in the city. Below is what she wrote in her petition:

Hi,

My name Is Mattea Somerville and I'm an 11-year-old from Guelph, Ont. I have started this petition to ask our elected officials for permission to install Guelph's very first rainbow crosswalk.

Having a rainbow crosswalk is very important to me because my loved ones are members of the LGBTQ2S+ community and the rainbow crosswalk is a welcoming symbol of inclusion and diversity for LGBTQ2S+ people.

The joy I feel when seeing a rainbow crosswalk when visiting other cities in Ontario is overwhelming and I would love to see Guelph take a positive step forward in the right direction by having one installed here as well.

Please help me in making Guelph's first Rainbow Crosswalk a reality.

Thanks so much for all of your help by signing and sharing.

Mattea Somerville