So-called “diversity” parking spaces for gay, lesbian, transgender, and migrant drivers were recently inaugurated in an underground car park in the German town of Hanau, prompting criticism from many internet users.
During last week’s inauguration of the “diversity” spaces, situated closest to the multi-level structure’s exit and alongside a wall painted with the rainbow colors of the “Pride” flag, Thomas Morlock — a city councilor and chairmen of the supervisory board of Hanauer Parkhaus GmbH (HPG) — said that they will serve as a “conspicuously colorful symbol” for “diversity and tolerance,” FOCUS Online reports.
The spaces, which will be monitored by CCTV cameras, were introduced to help people who feel “a special need for security in public spaces,” Morlock said, adding that they were created to “send a clear signal of tolerance and cosmopolitanism.”
In the wake of the unveiling of the new spaces and following widespread outrage among internet users who believed the parking spots are only for LGBT and migrant drivers, Morlock seemed to backtrack on who is permitted to park their cars in the spaces, telling the German tabloid Bild that the parking spaces “were not created for a separate group of people,” and that anyone — LGBTQ, straight, German, or foreign — could make use of the spaces “to take a stand against hate and exclusion.”
In a separate interview with the German Press Agency (DPA), Morlock condemned those outraged internet users who believed that the spaces were reserved only for LGBTQ and migrant drivers, calling their reactions “homophobic” and “xenophobic.” However, it was only made clear that the spaces were open to all after the backlash.
Shortly after Morlock’s clarification, the pro-LGBTQ advocacy group CSD Hanau quickly came to his defense in a Facebook post, writing: “Contrary to the assumption of many commentators in social media, it is NOT about certain criteria must be met in order to be able to use these parking spaces.”
The group also suggested that local Germans could have been shocked by “too much tolerance.”
The inauguration of the new “diversity” parking spaces comes after LGBTQ-themed crosswalks and intersections have been painted in many cities throughout much of the Western world. While some view these rainbow-painted crosswalks as nothing more than blatant examples of moral grandstanding by public officials, others see them as part of a larger plan to push LGBTQ propaganda and wage a cultural war against conservatives.
Months ago, prosecutors in Delray Beach, Florida slapped 20-year-old Alexander Jerich with felony charges after he used his pick-up truck to leave black tire streaks across a rainbow-painted intersection in the city’s downtown area.
Others in the United States have defaced “woke” street art as well. In the summer of 2020, angry citizens repeatedly poured paint on massive “Black Lives Matter” lettering that had been painted onto New York City’s Fifth Avenue. One instance even resulted in a police officer being injured after he attempted to arrest the vandal who resisted fiercely.
An unidentified skateboarder also splashed a statue of George Floyd in New York with paint this week. The defacement of some woke art comes after an entire year that saw art, historic symbols, and statues of various Western figures torn down, defaced, and destroyed across the United States and Europe, often with the open support of local and city governments.
