Vienna installs gay-themed crosswalk signals ahead of Eurovision song contest

In preparation for the Eurovision Song Contest, Vienna has outfitted its traffic lights throughout the city with figures of same-sex couples, replacing the single, gender-neutral figures typically seen at pedestrian crossings.

As this year’s hosts for the campy event, whose final is May 23, Vienna said the city programmed dozens of its crosswalk lights with male and female gay couples — and opposite sex couples — to demonstrate the city’s openmindedness, Reuters reported.

The city also hopes the different symbols will catch the attention of both pedestrians and drivers, a spokeswoman for Vienna’s lighting department told Reuters. The city will analyze the data afterward to see if the campaign improved traffic safety, she said.

Vienna will also host “Life Ball,” an HIV/AIDS charity event, on May 16. Conchita Wurst, the bearded drag queen and Austrian who won Eurovision last year, will help host the contest this year.

Launched in 1956, Eurovision is one of the longest running TV shows in the world. According to its website, an estimated 180 million viewers watch the competition, the most participants have been 43 countries, and most winning songs were performed in English, with 26 victories (French has 14 victories; Dutch and Hebrew have three each).

Some famous performances from the event: the pop group ABBA won for Sweden in 1974 with “Waterloo” and Céline Dion took the prize for Switzerland in 1988 with “Ne partez pas sans moi.”

Video by Eurovision Song Contest