Local members of the queer community have voted overwhelmingly for a street design that could transform a block of Lower Stuart St from the Octagon to Moray Pl into a powerful message of acceptance.
About 30 people attended an Otepoti Rainbow Crossing Hui organised by Woof! bar co-owner and activist Dudley Benson last week.
The hui discussed five potential locations for a rainbow crossing — the Octagon to Moray Pl along Princes St, a stretch of George St towards the Knox Church intersection, a stretch of road by the University or the Polytechnic or a block of Stuart St between the Octagon and Moray Pl.
The hui voted unanimously on the Lower Stuart St site, creating a rainbow street, Mr Benson said.
"There was powerful discussion around the mana this will bring the central business district, and how meaningful it will be for our young rainbow community."
There was a strong voice for Maoritanga in the design, something the group would be committed to, he said.
Artists Madison Kelly and Daniel Blackball would work on potential designs to be presented to the community for further discussion.
The site itself would in many ways determine the limitations and opportunities for design, Mr Benson said.
The aim was to move away from typical rainbow zebra crossing concepts.
"This is not going to be a rainbow."
Instead the focus was designing something that could be an "Instagram moment" and would aim to put Otepoti Dunedin on the map "as the queer capital of the South".
Dunedin City councillors from the previous triennium gave near universal approval of a rainbow crossing, voting last year 13-1 to approve adding the concept into the centre city plan.
