Daily BrewVancouver unveils rainbow-coloured crosswalks in heart of Gay Village
Vancouver's West End, home to the city's Gay Village, is marking the kickoff for Pride Week with a symbol of the city's welcoming attitude; rainbow crosswalks.
The vibrantly-coloured crosswalks were unveiled Monday at the intersection of Davie and Bute streets, in the heart of the district, the Vancouver Sun reported.
Spencer Chandra Herbert, the district's openly gay New Democrat MLA, welcomed the new crosswalks to an area that has “kind of been a cultural capital, so to speak, for LGBTQ folks across Canada.”
“This is where the Pride Parade started, it’s where the fight for marriage equality started, the right to adopt,” Herbert told the Sun. “It makes sense to mark that history and a little colour is a good thing.”
Vancouver hosted its first Pride Parade 35 years ago, the Sun noted. It has become the fifth largest in the world with more than 650,000 participants last year. This year's parade takes place next Sunday.
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City Councillor Tim Stevenson, who once was Canada's first openly gay cabinet minister, helped pull the wraps off the rainbow crosswalks.
"The tribute to pride – which will remain at the intersection forever – is the first of its kind in Canada and demonstrates the city’s commitment to diversity, acceptance and equality," he said, according to the CTV News.
“I along with many, many other people have worked for and dreamed for the day that we would have an inclusive city that was recognized by all levels of government . . . and that’s what’s happened."
The Georgia Straight reported the rainbow crosswalks were installed in the middle of the night for the Monday-morning unveiling. They're made of thermal plastic, which is used in other road markings, but tinted with different colours.
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The multi-hued crosswalk drew a positive review from American tourist Davi Mialia.
"Seattle should do this," he told Metro News.
In fact, Seattle has been mulling the idea of putting rainbow crosswalk on the city's Capital Hill neighbourhood for the last year but the initiative hasn't yet been approved by the city.
The first permanent rainbow crosswalk (Vancouver tested a temporary one last year) was created in 2012 at the intersection of Santa Monica and San Vicente boulevards in West Hollywood, Calif.
Toronto has had a rainbow mural on a Don Valley Parkway walkway for 40 years, though apparently it wasn't created as an overt symbol of gay pride.
The Toronto Star reports the mural on the entrance to a tunnel has been extended inside the tunnel.
