The "rainbow stairs" (or sometimes "rainbow steps") refer to a rainbow-painted staircase in Beyoğlu, in Istanbul, Turkey.
History
Huseyin Cetinel, a retired forestry engineer, originally painted a rainbow on the Salıpazarı ramp connecting the Fındıklı/Karaköy and Cihangir neighborhoods in 2013. He spent a week painting the rainbow with his son-in-law. Days later, the staircase was painted grey,[1] prompting activists to re-paint the rainbow there as well as others throughout the city.[2][3] Activism was not the artist's intent,[4][5] but the steps became popular with the LGBT community and tourists. The staircase was destroyed as part of a demolition project in 2015,[6][7] and repainted.
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