Three years after Australia voted ‘yes’ to same-sex marriage, a permanent rainbow tribute is coming to Sydney.
After all that has happened in 2020, it’s hard to believe that just three years ago Australia was voting on legalising same-sex marriage. After the country cast their votes via a postal survey, the results were revealed in November 2017. With the ‘yes’ verdict came new legislation that passed through parliament in December 2017. It was a historic moment for Australians and the LGBTIQ+ community and a decision that was much overdue.
Fast forward to 2020 and the City of Sydney is planning to create a colourful permanent tribute to the historic moment. Lord Mayor Clover Moore has proposed to create a rainbow footpath in the heart of Sydney, tracing through Prince Alfred Park in Surry Hills.
The 90-metre path will feature six coloured bands, each to be painted over the existing footpath that runs through the park. The result will be a stunning colourful rainbow that curves through this green urban space (a site recently renamed ‘Equality Green’).
The proposed path is set to not only commemorate the vote for same-sex marriage but also “the moment when more than 30,000 Sydneysiders gathered together to hear the results,” tells Moore. “The path will represent both the progress we have made towards equality and the long way to go before our LGBTIQ communities are free of discrimination”.
The proposed rainbow path has been inspired by an idea from the Surry Hills Creative Precinct and is still at the proposal stage. The City of Sydney is currently reaching out to the public for community feedback until Sunday, November 29th at 5pm.
