Sydney’s Oxford Street rainbow crossing was tarred over last night, with the State Government ruling that the potential safety risks from the rapidly iconified landmark far outweighed the shared communal joy that came from the gay-friendly tolerance promoting crossing.
With fans of equality often posing for photos on the colourful strip, critics feared that someone would eventually push their luck too far in the quest for the ultimate Facebook profile shot. Campaigning to keep the rainbow crossing, the Sydney City Council commissioned Bitzios Consulting to conduct a safety audit on the tourist attraction. The middling results conceded that the crossing did attract a substantial number of alcohol-effected revelers getting snap happy in the very close proximity of the bustling traffic, but the only incident that occurred on the intersection during the ‘rainbow month’, was an accident involving a motorcycle and a drug affected pedestrian which had nothing to do with the gay friendliness of the crossing. The report suggested either the removal or ”some form of night time marshal (police or
council ranger) to encourage pedestrians not to stay on the crossing”.
Member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich was on hand to protest the State government’s Duncan Gay-led rainbow removal. As with many protesters on hand to bemoan the cultural regression, Greenwich pointed to the secretive manner in which the Roads Minister made the snap decision as the greatest cause for concern.
“This is quite an aggressive act from the Roads Minister. The workers
were instructed last minute from the highest levels to come and get rid
of the crossing,” Mr Greenwich said. “Everyone in the state
should be concerned that the Minister is using emergency powers and not
notifying and consulting with the local community and businesses.“
“The
Minister has some sort of misguided vendetta against Sydney. Traffic is
blocked; its peak hour and they’ve redirected services. It’s not on. People wanted a chance to say goodbye to the crossing and the City of Sydney was promised that they’d be allowed.“
It has been reported that last night’s removal cost tax payers approximately $30 000, which incidentally would have been around the same cost to implement safety measures at the crossing for a year. Tough call!
Going
Going
Gone!
RIP Rainbow Crossing
via SMH, The Australian
Pictures via Save The Rainbow Crossing FB
