In advance of Pride this weekend, Transport for London has partnered with Siemens to install LGBT-specific pedestrian signals on 50 traffic lights near Trafalgar Square. Siemens has produced and installed seven designs, including one that promotes trans equality.
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, noted that Pride celebrations and the pedestrian signals have particular symbolic value this year following last week’s attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. “These new signals show that we stand shoulder to shoulder with [Orlando], and display the tolerance and celebration of difference in our city.”
Last year Vienna also installed LGBT-friendly traffic signals at a number of crosswalks, a move that was criticized by the right-wing Freedom Party. Thus far, however, criticisms of the London signals have largely been muted.