BY NATASHA BARSOTTI – In response to the New South Wales government’s decision to remove a rainbow-coloured crossing from a Sydney street, residents indulged in some improvisation and created their own rainbow crossings in chalk all over the city, Gay Star News (GSN) reports.
Pedestrian and road safety was given as the official reason for the removal of the original Taylor Square rainbow crossing that was a source of contention
between Sydney’s city council and the state government. Minister for Roads and Ports Duncan Gay had used a
council-commissioned safety report as justification to pave over the
crossing last week. Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore had disputed the report’s
findings.
Close to 16,000 people had signed a petition calling for the crossing to remain in place, but the state government ignored their plea.
In defiance, some residents armed themselves with chalk, made their own rainbow crossing, and posted a photo of their handiwork that went viral. Their action motivated others to create copycat chalk crossings across Sydney, according to the GSN report. GSN notes that chalk rainbows have also appeared in other parts of Australia and as far away as Kenya and Phoenix, Arizona.
Some bold protesters even drew a rainbow crossing outside the office of the roads minister, who reportedly had the last word on whether the Taylor Square crossing would remain in place.
Meanwhile, a number of the so-called guerrilla chalk rainbow artists have posted stories about the new friends they have made as a result of their actions.
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