Rainbow crossing urged to counter festering hate
A Christchurch-raised man is calling on the city council to install a rainbow crossing to show support for the LGBTQIA+ community in the wake of recent hate crimes.
Petitioner Claude Tellick, 20, says the crossing is a simple but powerful way to stand against prejudice and could signal to the rest of Aotearoa that the city has shaken its conservative reputation.
The rainbow crossing – a symbolic gesture featured on roads across the world, first appearing in Taiwan in 2008 – might seem tokenistic to some people, he said, but it was a cheap way to have “a profound impact”.
He said it was difficult to explain what made the city feel unwelcoming towards queer people, but the lack of visible diversity was an issue.
Tellick was raised in Christchurch but moved to Wellington to study. He said although many people and organisations in Christchurch worked hard to make it a safer place, he felt forced to leave in order to live without prejudice.
“I like Christchurch, it’s somewhere I want to return to ... We need to do everything we can to stop it from being a place where hate can fester,” he said.
He launched an online petition last Thursday and intends to present it to the city council as soon as possible, once he thinks it has been circulated widely enough. It had about 1180 signatures last night.
The idea was inspired by the rainbow crossings in Gisborne and on Auckland’s Karangahape Rd, which were vandalised when they were both painted over last week – acts that the police are treating as hate crimes.
As of yesterday, three people have been charged with vandalism in the Gisborne case, with Inspector Danny Kirk saying police will seek reparation of costs for the damage.
Destiny Church said its members painted the crossing white because the mayor refused to stop a planned drag queen event.
No charges have been laid yet regarding Auckland’s crossing, but there was CCTV footage and a search warrant has been executed.
A Christchurch City Council spokesperson said staff were aware of interest in a crossing, but no funds had been allocated to it in the draft long-term plan or in the current annual plan.
It would be up to elected members to take the matter further, such as by voting to include the project in a future plan.
As the draft long-term plan – the council’s 10-year budget – is currently open for consultation, members of the public could include their desire for a rainbow crossing in their submission, the spokesperson said.
Tellick said it was good timing that the hate crimes happened during the small window in which people can call on their representatives to invest more in making their cities LGBTQIA+ friendly, and encouraged people across the country to make submissions of their own.