Castro Unveils the Rainbow Honor Walk of Fame: Someone Forgot To Spellcheck the Plaques

Think Oscar Wilde would be amused? Can you catch the misspelling? #rainbowhonorwalk SF #castro #KTVU pic.twitter.com/uaGMB5iRYv

— taramoriarty (@taramoriarty1) September 3, 2014

The city's first Rainbow Walk of Fame has become somewhat of a walk of shame after volunteers unveiled the new bronze plaques rife with typos.

The all-volunteer organization was in charge of creating the long-awaited Walk of Fame through the Castro, featuring 20 names of LGBT heroes, including Oscar Wilde, Allen Ginsberg, and James Baldwin.  

The idea was to honor these now-deceased individuals who made significant contributions to their fields. Unfortunately, spelling mistakes got in the way.

or how about we pay some respect to "trangendered" Christine Jorgensen?!?! #RainbowHonorWalk pic.twitter.com/D4FHznjpyy

— Man of some esteem. (@LeeHepner) September 2, 2014

Hey, #RainbowHonorWalk transgender is a not a verb. Jorgensen was a transgender person, she wasn't "transgendered."

— transadvocate (@transadvocate) September 3, 2014

Guys, guys. Who was supposed to spellcheck the #RainbowHonorwalk in the #Castro?!?! #oops

— julie arcino (@heyjuliearcino) September 3, 2014

Supervisor Scott Wiener told the Chron that the manufacturer will replace them with error-free plaques within the month. 

Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen this kind of spelling mistake. In October 2004, artist Maria Alquilar installed a $40,000 mosaic at a Livermore public library featuring the names of 175 cultural luminaries. Sadly, 11 of them were misspelled, among them Einstein, Shakespeare, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Michelangelo. (Eistein, Shakespere, Gaugan, VanGough, Michaelangelo).

Fixing this mistake, however, wasn't free. An additional $6,000 — plus travel expenses — was required to fly the artist in from Miami and compensate her for correcting her own work.

Alquilar, for her part, didn't seem embarrassed or even apologetic. She claimed artistic license, befitting Gaugan or VanGough.

Staff Writer Joe Eskenazi contributed to this report