By MELISSA WELLHAM
A DIY rainbow revolution is upon the country. After the move by the NSW Government to remove the rainbow crossing at Sydney’s Taylor Square, people in Australia – and now the world over – started creating their own chalk rainbow crossings on streets, and uploading the pictures to social media.
The rainbow crossing in Taylor Square was originally painted as a part of this year’s Mardi Gras festival and, despite community objections, it was removed two weeks ago.
Undeterred, people have continued sharing their vivid chalk masterpieces in the name of supporting equality, diversity, and love. I personally added a more hirsute contribution to the rainbow revolution. Except not with soluble chalk, and not on the ground.
Instead, I now have DIY rainbow hair.
In the interest of full disclosure, ‘do it yourself’ is a misleading phrase, because I most definitely did not do this myself. All credit must go to the world’s most patient hairdresser (who is probably also the world’s best hairdresser, as evidenced by the fact that she often provides cupcakes with EDIBLE GLITTER for me to nibble on while she puts outrageous colours all over my head).
In the gallery below, you will see my transformation from bleach blonde locks, to rainbow tresses. This transformation was anything but instantaneous, and took just about 3 hours.
Warning: many gratuitous selfies ahead.
But my hairdresser’s multi-coloured magnum opus wasn’t the only thing to brighten the Mamamia office this week (she says modestly), because the Mamamia team then took to the streets with chalk.
Click through the gallery for proof of an afternoon well spent, as well as other DIY rainbow crossings from around the country.
Okay, so my hair is not going to change the world. It’s just hair. But the DIY rainbow crossings are not just chalk colours on the ground. They are representative of much, much more.
They represent Australia’s shifting attitudes towards same-sex marriage. They are representative of the vast majority of people in Australia, who are in favour of marriage equality.
People who are tired of laws that discriminate against gay people. Tired of politicians who pander to prejudice and false panic — about a decision that will affect nobody, except the gay couples who decide they want to get married. A decision that will allow two people who love each other to have their relationship legally recognised as equal, and allow them to celebrate that relationship in a wedding ceremony with friends and family. (And if you’re not on board yet, here’s 18 arguments against gay marriage and why they’re STILL bollocks.)
This month, New Zealand legalised same-sex marriage. In February, UK politicians voted ‘yes’ in favour of marriage equality. When you woke up this morning, you would have discovered that France has become the 14th country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage. They legalised same-sex adoption, too.
These do-it-yourself rainbows, drawn on street corners and stone walls and pavements around Australia, show that it’s time for our country to take a step forward. Time for our government to show a little love and compassion; and to be as loving and compassionate as the people they represent. It’s time for our politicians to be brave.
So come on, Julia Gillard. It’s time.
If you want to show your support for marriage equality – and show that you support diversity and love, instead of prejudice and legal discrimination – please sign our pledge.
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Top Comments
Hair looks great.
I was staunchly pro legalising same-sex marriage in Australia until I saw an IQ2 debate on this topic (see link below) on the fantastic abc show 'Big Ideas' last year. The most compelling argument from either side, in my opinion, was from Annamarie Jagose (a prominent academic of queer theory), who was arguing against the legalisation of same-sex marriage. There was also an article by Germaine Greer, published in The Age newspaper 20/4/2013, questioning the validity of marriage in the modern day. I do often wonder why, now that there are so many other options available, so many young people are so eager to get married and why there is still such widespread acceptance that marriage is the be-all and end-all in the hierarchy of relationships. I can only guess that the societal connotations and legal privileges that come with being married have something to do with it. Although, given the choice, I would not necessarily vote against the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia (in fact, in the short term, I think it is inevitable and should be done) I do think a reconsideration of the relevance of marriage and a more nuanced discussion of marriage and how it privileges certain relationships over others is necessary in trying to achieve any sort of equality. The argument that same-sex marriage = marriage equality is flawed, because all it does is privilege monogamous heterosexual relationships as well as monogamous homosexual relationships above all others. The question should not be 'why shouldn't same-sex marriages be legalised' but 'why should any marriage - as sanctified by the state - be the most privileged, legitimate and valued relationship choice in our society?'
View the IQ2 debate here
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/bi...