Gays get green (and red) light in Munich
The city of Munich has introduced a gay couples version of the city’s traffic lights, just in time for the city’s Pride celebrations this weekend.
Not wanting to miss out on the influx of gay tourists heading to Munich to celebrate, the council made alterations to traffic lights across the whole city. The new lights installed at pedestrian crossings show gay, lesbian and heterosexual couples waiting patiently together at the signals or crossing the road hand-in-hand.
The measure was launched by Germany’s Green party politicians, who overcame resistance from the Christian Social Union’s council members to install the traffic lights in time for the festival on Saturday (July 11).
However, those hoping the traffic lights may stay a little more gay on a more permanent basis will be disappointed, as the special panes bearing the outlines of the happy couples are removable, meaning that they can be replaced with more conventional ones once the weekend is over.
A total of around €10,000 was spent on the project.
The idea for gay themed traffic lights were first introduced in Vienna as a way of celebrating the Eurovision Song Contest, held in the Austrian capital this year after singer Conchita Wurst took first place in 2014.
