Government Should Be Viewpoint Neutral
Oh, and just so you know: Equal time does not need to be given to be neutral. In fact, giving equal time to certain positions is in many cases patently non-neutral. You do not give equal time to holocaust deniers every time there is a conversation about the holocaust. You do not give equal time to Birthers every time Obama is mentioned. You do not give equal time to climate change denialists each to climate change is mentioned. You do not give equal time to people who believe the earth is flat every time some one talks about NASA. You do not give equal time to conspiracy nuts thinking vaccines are unsafe anytime a vaccine is not safe. The suggestion that giving equal time is implicitly neutral seems to be strange and an implicitly non-neutral way of giving crackpots equal footing in rational discussions. That you want to take a story that is fundamentally an economic one and community relations (for a community located in the heart of the gay neighborhood of Sydney) at its heart and pervert it to marginalize a group and present your marginalized minority viewpoint as a rational one IS an implicitly non-neutral effort on your part. Do try again at neutrality.
The rainbow flag is recognized the world over as the primary symbol of "Gay Pride". It is, AFAIK, the ONLY symbol used to represent and convey the queer viewpoint. But you seem to be asserting that painting what must be the world's largest rendition of this symbol across a major street, and then making it the basis for a tourist advertising campaign sophisticated and well funded enough to attract international tourists, is viewpoint neutral. You seem to be denying the obvious fact that this is brilliantly (pun intended) conceived and executed civic speech to promoting the queer viewpoint.
Your assertion that painting a giant rainbow flag has nothing to do with promoting the queer viewpoint seems like equivalent to an assertion that painting a giant swastika on the pavement of an intersection in a neighborhood populated by Aryan Race White Supremicists would have nothing to do with promoting racism.
How would you feel if your tax money was used to paint a giant swastika on the road and to use that as the basis for a major advertising campaign?
This is definitely speech. It is definitely not viewpoint neutral. And it is definitely funded by government, over the objections of the minority of voterss who oppose the viewpoint.