Toronto Debuts the World’s Longest Rainbow Road
Artist Travis Myers created a half-mile rainbow route, ‘The Long Walk to Equality,’ in Toronto to celebrate the city's Pride.
When the festive Capital Pride crowds take to the celebratory stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue that is the site of D.C.’s annual LGBTQ festival on Sunday, June 9, they’ll be milling not only in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, but right at the steps of the Canadian Embassy.
And this year, that placement might take on a little additional significance, with Toronto recently unveiling the world’s longest “rainbow road.”
With help from Toronto Pride and numerous donors, Toronto artist Travis Myers installed a rainbow-painted patch nearly a half-mile long (1,969 feet/600 meters) on the city’s Hanlan’s Point, home to its clothing-optional beach, recognized as a “historically queer space,” according to The Green Line.
Myers is also co-founder of Friends of Hanlan’s, working to preserve the site’s cultural character.
“Creating something that’s bold and unmissable not only gives the community something they can look to and feel proud of, but it’s also something that can act as a reminder for people in those other decision-making capacities that there is something here that’s worth preserving,” Myers said of the permanent installation, “The Long Walk to Equality,” as reported by the Toronto Star.
“What I really would love is for people to come and stand in those spots and feel the queer history of people like them, going as far back as possible and stretching as far into the future as possible, because that’s what (the road) is meant to symbolize.”
According to the Star, the new rainbow installation inches past its predecessor, a rainbow bike path in Utrecht, Netherlands, measuring 1,870 feet.
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