Opening rainbow bike path: “A powerful symbol”
The ľϸӰ celebrated the opening of the rainbow bike path in Utrecht Science Park on Coming Out Day 11 October 2021.
The longest rainbow bike path in the world was created last summer, but the opening had to wait due to the Covid-19 measures which have been released only shortly. With the rainbow bike path, Utrecht ľϸӰ, ľϸӰ of Applied Sciences Utrecht and Utrecht UMC are drawing attention to the acceptance, equality and safety of all people from the LGBTQI+ community.
For Elias van Mourik, student at Unviersity of Applied Sciences Utrecht and initiator of the bike path, the bike path stands for respect for each other: "Respect for the student who fled their homeland and is now excelling here. Respect for the non-binary individual who is passionately involved. Respect for the bicultural LGBTIQ+ person who works in the hospital. But also respect for the challenges that are less visible, such as the employee who is combining a full-time job with informal care responsibilities."
Diversity Dean Janneke Plantenga reminded in her speech how especially in social media the bike path has been framed as sheer symbol politics. It may well be a symbol, said Janneke Plantenga, but a powerful one:
"Allow me, then, to make a case for powerful symbols. Symbols like the portraits of female professors in room 1636 of the ľϸӰ Hall, which form a striking counterpoint to the historic portraits of male professors in the Senate Room. While these images did nothing to remedy the salary discrepancies or vertical segregation, they do serve as a powerful symbol of our efforts to achieve gender equality. The same goes for this bicycle path. Although it will not, on its own, end discrimination or guarantee safety, this bicycle path is a way for us to – quite literally – show our true colours."
"Because we recognize that this community cannot take social safety for granted, even today, we have installed this bicycle path in record time. The first step toward change is increasing visibility and awareness. With this bicycle path, we have created a conversation piece that will serve to initiate and facilitate dialogue, and through which we are accepting our responsibility as administrators."
"Ultimately, I feel that this a vital function of the diversity policy as well. To proudly display our wide range of colours and make the entire choir of our voices heard."