A little more color than in previous years was used this year for the annual refreshment of one of those zebra crossings that are intended to enable pedestrians to safely cross the road at the Marianum junction. In addition to the white stripes, the spaces in between were provided with bright color accents. Since then, a rainbow – a global sign of tolerance towards people with different sexual orientations – has accompanied pedestrians on their way across the road.
“Freistadt has become a bit more colourful. We are a cosmopolitan and modern city. We are making that visible with the new rainbow crosswalk,” praises Freistadt Mayor Christian Gratzl (SP). The district capital stands for tolerance and equality. Gratzl: “Discrimination has no place in our city.”
FP boycott for “symbolic politics”
Freistadt’s freedom activists criticize the colorful zebra crossings in the city as purely symbolic politics. The FPÖ was the only parliamentary group not to be present at the photo shoot for the opening. “We are decidedly against discrimination. Nobody needs alibi campaigns that don’t bring anything apart from costs. Our talks with the residents of Freistadt clearly confirm that,” says FP City Councilor Harald Schuh’s position. If you live tolerance honestly, you don’t have to show it off in public.
Incidentally, the impetus for the Freistadt rainbow crosswalk came from Infrastructure City Councilor Rainer Widmann. The founder of the WIFF citizens’ list with a political past in the FPÖ and BZÖ criticizes the resistance of the Freedom Party as “narrow-minded and stupid”. Because rainbow zebra crossings would not only create awareness and visibility for a socio-political issue: “Their colors also increase the attention and thus the safety of all road users. And of course the bright colors are also nice to look at.”
How much a rainbow crosswalk can mobilize radical provocateurs was shown in a frightening way this week in Wels. There, a colorfully designed zebra crossing was daubed with homophobic slogans. (live)
Source: Nachrichten
