December 19th, 2023City unveils rainbow crossing

The City of Greater Geelong has this month unveiled a permanent rainbow pedestrian crossing on Yarra Street, under the Westfield flyover, as a symbol of pride in the diversity of the region and a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community.

The rainbow flag (also known as the Pride flag) is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) pride and social movements.

The rainbow design chosen for the crossing is based on Valentino Vecchietti’s progress pride flag design, the most current and inclusive rainbow flag to date.

The flag has integrated, alongside the traditional rainbow colors, the transgender flag, intersex flag and the brown and black lines to represent all people of colour, including First Nations Australians.

The need for a rainbow crossing in Geelong has been expressed by the community consistently over the last four years.

Planning was initiated which included the installation of a non-permanent mini crossing in Little Malop Street, at the launch of Geelong Rainbow Festival 2020.

However, the planning for the permanent crossing stalled until 2022 due to the COVID 19 Pandemic.