St Kilda Will Soon Be Home to a Fabulous Rainbow Road
Jackson Street will be transformed into a giant rainbow in celebration of the local LGBTQI community.
Following in the very bright and joyful footsteps of Taylor Square in Sydney, Melbourne's St Kilda will soon splash a 35-metre-long flag down Jackson Street. The colourful road and pedestrian crossing will be painted towards the end of this month and will remain for at least two years.
The road will be a public display of the City of Port Phillip's support for marriage equality and a celebration of the area's LGBTQI community, as well as a way of injecting a little colour and joy into the days of everyone who treads across it. Jackson Street makes up part of the busy Fitzroy Street precinct in St Kilda, and is considered to be highly visible to those walking, riding, tramming or driving.
It's also located also right next to the site of the proposed Victorian Pride Centre, the first of its kind in Australia, which is expected to open in 2010.
Acting Mayor Cr Dick Gross said the area's long-standing history with, and commitment to, the LGBTQI community makes it the perfect spot for the rainbow road. The area has hosted the annual Midsumma Pride March for 23 years.
Sydney's rainbow crossing near Oxford Street was removed in 2013 after a stoush between local council and state government – but the move spawned hundreds of DIY rainbows by locals, and the news last month that it will be reinstated this October.
Here's hoping this one sticks around for good — and that the colour spreads elsewhere, too.
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