Earlier this year, Vienna’s same-sex traffic lights made international headlines. The city reprogrammed 120 pedestrian crossings, replacing the usual gender-neutral figure with same-sex and opposite-sex couples. What started as a way to support the Eurovision Song Contest became a beacon of tolerance, and other cities followed suit.
According to reports in the media, the new traffic lights were supposed to be removed by June this year, but the city decided not to pull the plug on the project after widespread support. Encouragement and praise outweighed the sentiments of an Austrian group called the Freedom Party (FPÖ). The right-wing group threatened to take legal action over the gay-friendly traffic lights, citing its exorbitant costs to the state.
Other Austrian cities are expected to follow Vienna’s lead and already Germany’s Munich introduced same-sex traffic lights in support of their recent LGBT pride festival called Christopher Street Day. According to CNN, Munich installed the new lights in its downtown region and has since decided to keep them.
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