Bristol's first-ever rainbow crossing in the city centre has faded less than a year after it was first painted leading to questions about its future. The puffin crossing celebrates the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and ace (LGBTQ+) community by displaying all the colours of the Pride Progress Flag.
The colourful crossing was installed as a "permanent" feature - as reported by ITV - on Wine Street, near Castle Park at the end of June last year to mark the return of Bristol Pride. While last year's celebrations were reduced due to the pandemic in 2021, including the cancellation of the Pride march and the festival, the organisers hoped the crossing would represent "visibility" for the LGBTQ+ community.
Some nine months later, the city's first rainbow crossing has faded significantly with some colours vanishing all together. As there are high levels of both traffic and footfall in the area, this has meant the colourful paint has worn away quickly. Bristol City Council has said the crossing was only installed "as a temporary measure" and there is currently no availability in its budget to repaint it.
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In a statement to Bristol Live, a spokesperson for the council said: “The rainbow crossing painted for the 2021 Pride celebration was a unique project and the first of its kind in Bristol. It was installed as a temporary measure that would last for several months as a tribute to the LGBTQ+ community who bring so much diversity and vibrancy to the city.
"Funding was allocated on the basis of a one-off installation and the council does not currently have any budget to repaint it. However, as new developments come forward in the immediate area, we’ll look to secure funding through Community Infrastructure Levy and other sources for repair.”
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Bristol Live has since asked the council about the costs to paint the Pride flag in 2021. Bristol Pride was also approached for comment by Bristol Live to determine its involvement in the future of the crossing.
The UK's first permanent LGBTQ+ Pride crossing was installed in London in 2019 in Herne Hill by Lambeth Council, and since, multiple more have been painted across the capital and the rest of the country. Wimbledon's crossing first appeared in 2019 and was recently repainted in September last year to include the Pride Progress Flag.
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Bristol's Pride crossing was vandalised just days after its debut in June last year with black graffiti scrawled across it, seemingly saying "Jesus Loves Sinners". It was repaired 48 hours after the vandalism took place.
Festival organisers confirmed earlier in February the festival is returning to its 'original format' this year after it was downscaled due to the pandemic, offering an exciting programme of events over two weeks. Pride Day will see performances from 'some of the biggest names in live music,' while members and supporters of Bristol's LGBTQ+ community will take to the streets for the iconic Pride march.
Do you think Bristol City Council should replace the Pride crossing near Castle Park? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below
