Over 6,000 people have signed a petition to make a rainbow colored road crossing in Sydney’s city center a permanent celebration of LGBT life in the city.

A week ago stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple were painted over a road crossing in Oxford Street, close to the gay party area of the city, in time for last Saturday’s Sydney Mardi Gras parade.

The idea was suggested by Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore who said the rainbow crossing would be a ‘visual acknowledgment of the significance of Oxford Street to the LGBT community’.

The city’s MP Alex Greenwich said:

‘Lesbians and gay men were beaten and bashed on Oxford Street in 1978, and homophobic violence was rife for years. To now have our flag on our street celebrates how far we have come and is a tribute to the battles we have won.’

Greenwich started the petition on Change.org to ask the state’s Minister for Roads and Ports, Duncan Gay, to agree to make the crossing a permanent feature of the area.

‘The crossing will be a major tourist attractions and bring new life to Oxford Street. It is a colorful piece of public art as well,’ Greenwich added.

Sydney councillor Christine Forster also supports the crossing becoming a permanant fixture and has contacted the minister separately to ask him to approve it.