Photo shows 2015 demolition of Istanbul's rainbow stairs due to construction work, not to erase political message

This photo shows the demolition of Istanbul's rainbow stairs due to construction work in 2015.

(Reuters) - A photograph showing Istanbul’s iconic rainbow stairs being demolished in 2015 due to construction has been miscaptioned by users online. The photo is being shared alongside claims the stairs are being destroyed because they were painted in colors supporting the LGBTQ community, but the artist who painted them has repeatedly spoken publicly about the design not being inspired by activism. The steps have been re-painted since.

A post with more than 3.3 million views at the time of publishing can be seen (here) with the caption, “Yes. Remove all evil LGBT propaganda.” Another example can be seen (here). 

The image is featured in articles by Turkish media (here), (here), (here) published on July 27, 2015 that say the stairs are being demolished for repairs and quoted the painter as saying the stairs would be rebuilt. There is no reference in the article to the stairs being destroyed in 2015 because of a visual reference to the LGBTQ community.

The stairs have since been rebuilt, and are viewable online as a landmark in the Beyoglu neighborhood of Istanbul in recent photos added to Google Maps (here!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sREz_GN5BJW7udrLFtCJaIA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) (bit.ly/3M4GCk3), and visitors continue to post photographs of the stairs on Instagram (here) and TripAdvisor (here).

The stairs were painted by retired engineer Huseyin Cetinel in August 2013, who said that he was not inspired by activism for any particular cause but that he just wanted to make people smile, according to a 2013 New York Times report (here).

Several other reports have also quoted Cetinel saying that painting the stairs did not stem from a political message, (here), and (here).

That didn’t stop the rainbow stairs from becoming symbols of activism on social media on their own, for LGBTQ rights as well as for the Gezi Park protests, which took place around the time the stairs were painted (here), (here) .

The massive, nationwide anti-government demonstrations known as the Gezi Park protests began following the forceful removal of environmental activists from the park by police, who were doing a peaceful sit-in against the government’s plans to demolish the park to build a shopping mall on May 31, 2013, as reported by Reuters (here).

The stairs were initially painted back to gray on Aug. 30, 2013 by Beyoglu municipality, causing an uproar by the public, who began to paint rainbows in other places around the city and country, as reported (here), (here) and (here). Ultimately, the stairs were painted back to their bright colors.

VERDICT

Missing context. This photo shows the demolition of Istanbul’s rainbow stairs due to construction work in 2015, and the painter of the stairs has said he was not inspired by activism and they do not have a political message. The stairs have since been re-painted.