Rainbow crosswalks have become common occurrences in major cities around the world, including San Francisco and Key West in the U.S. and Sydney, Australia.
However, another Australian city has what is believed to be the world’s only rainbow roundabout.
Although Sydney is probably best known internationally as the home of Mardi Gras and is the first port of call for many LGBTQ visitors, it’s the country’s capital, Canberra, that had the highest number of ‘yes’ votes in the November 2017 postal vote to legalize same-sex marriage. Nationally, the ‘Yes’ votes won by 62% to 38% of ‘no’ votes, paving the way for marriage equality to become a reality in 2018.
Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), was proud of the fact it had such a large number of supporters of equal marriage. After the postal vote result was announced, city officials chose to commemorate this vote for equality with a permanent rainbow celebration on a well-known roundabout. It’s located on Lonsdale Street in Braddon, which is also one of the city’s foodie epicenters.
Related: Key West just upgraded their rainbow crosswalks in a major way
On its completion, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr welcomed the new roundabout rainbow, saying, “This is about visibility.
“I think Canberra’s LGBTIQ community has hidden its light under a bushel a little in recent times.
“So we are going to see a more active and visible community participating, not in only LGBTIQ events, but also having a role in a range of mainstream Canberra events to demonstrate how much this community values inclusion and diversity.”
Related: New ‘same-sex crosswalk signals’ are going up in Canberra and they are adorable
If you’re thinking of a trip to Canberra, the city hosts its annual SpringOut Pride festival every November. The 2020 event is scheduled to run November 2-24.
