BELFAST — A gay artist in Belfast has been hit with a £60 (approx. $90) fine after protesting for same-sex marriage by chalking the word ‘love’ on sidewalks.
Christoff Gillen was fined under a piece of legislation that is rarely (if ever) used. He was fined for “defacing” the streets of Belfast. He was doing a piece of performance art where he was writing the word “LOVE” multiple times around the city in chalk. The piece was designed to highlight the discrimination being faced by LGBTQ people living in Northern Ireland.
Gillen intends to pay his fine by delivering 6,000 one penny pieces to the City Council. Before he does that, Gillen and his supporters intend to find out how beautiful the word “LOVE” is when made up of 6,000 pennies.
Pink News reported that a council spokesman told the Belfast Telegraph: “The fine was issued after the person informed our warden that he intended chalking the word ‘love’ 1,000 times across city center streets (without seeking prior permission) and under no circumstances could we allow him to do that.”
Watch the video above.
