The annual Eurovision Song Contest is huge in Europe, attracting tens of thousands of attendees and millions of viewers to watch which European country will reign supreme in the music competition.
This year is the 60th anniversary of Eurovision, and a greatest hits concert and conference have already been held this year to mark the occasion. However, this year's host city Vienna is doing some very different but still very special to commemorate the event.
Vienna has replaced dozens of the usually single, gender-neutral figure in its traffic lights with male and female same-sex couples with hearts in anticipation of this year's Eurovision Song Contest. This is part of a campaign to show the Austrian capital as an open-minded city as well as to grab the attention of drivers and pedestrians who aren't used to seeing these symbols in their traffic lights, a spokeswoman for Vienna's city lighting department told Reuters. The city even plans to collect data to see if the measure improved traffic safety.
This isn't the first time Eurovision has been openly supportive of the LGBT community. Finnish singer Krista Siegfrids used her 2013 Eurovision performance to protest her home country's ban on gay marriage by kissing her female back-up dancer. Bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst won Eurovision in 2014 for Austria, subsequently achieving worldwide fame and a status as an LGBT icon. Vienna will also be hosting the annual Life Ball, a huge charity event to fight against HIV/AIDS, right before Eurovision kicks off next week.
Why not? New traffic light showing a same-sex couple - in aid of Life Ball, the Eurovision & Rainbow Parade in Vienna pic.twitter.com/Iq7zOV1VSS
— Derek Momodu (@DelMody) May 12, 2015
Unfortunately, the entrant to represent Sweden in Eurovision this year, Måns Zelmerlöw, made some controversial comments in the past that many perceived to be homophobic. Zelmerlöw has apologized many times for his comments, but it just goes to show you that the world sadly still needs things like Vienna's traffic light campaign.
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Photo: Horia Varlan | Flickr
