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In a world of rainbows, Newcastle lord mayor Jeff McCloy is the big grey rain cloud.
On Facebook, his photo telling gay marriage supporters to ‘‘stop this nonsense’’ as they chalked a rainbow crossing in front of Newcastle City Hall had been viewed more than 60,000 times yesterday.
In Cessnock, Cr Cordelia Burcham sounded the scariest warning she could to a Newcastle mayor, after Cr McCloy called police to remove the rainbow chalkers on Wednesday.
‘‘It’s like the figs all over again,’’ she said.
Public support for the chalked rainbows would leave Newcastle City Council exposed to the same kind of criticism it received over its handling of the Laman Street figtrees removal, she said.
‘‘It’s a feel-good story, Jeff. Real men love rainbows,’’ said Cr Burcham, who came out publicly in an interview with Fairfax Regional Media last year.
The DIY Rainbow Crossings Facebook page, launched in Australia following New Zealand’s Parliament legislating for gay marriage, has focused on Newcastle after Cr McCloy’s opposition to the city hall rainbow.
Rainbow crossing supporters were planning to shower Newcastle with chalked rainbows today in a colourful protest against Cr McCloy.
‘‘Last week Ashfield Council was the focus because it washed off a chalked rainbow that it had granted a permit for, and this week it’s Newcastle,’’ Cr Burcham said.
She was one of two councillors who helped draw a rainbow crossing in Cessnock’s main street. It has stayed there for six days.
A Newcastle council statement early this week said Cr McCloy ‘‘personally supports the rights of people who love each other to marry’’.
But the council did not support ‘‘graffiti of a public place’’.