Florida’s Rainbow Crosswalks—Including Dedication To Pulse Victims

Topline

A culture war is raging in several Florida cities over the painting of crosswalks after the state covered up a rainbow mural in Orlando meant to honor the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, sparking a battle between local, state and federal officials who’ve said public roads are no place for “political banners.”

A rainbow crosswalk was removed overnight outside of Pulse nightclub in Orlando, one of the most significant LGBTQ sites in Florida, as part of state and federal transportation officials’ aim to wipe “political banners” from public roadways.

TNS

Key Facts

Department of Transportation earlier this month in what state officials called a crackdown on decorative street art that impacted more than a dozen enhanced intersections in Orlando.

Protestors have re-colored the Pulse Memorial crosswalk several times since, and FDOT workers have followed behind them covering their work and on Friday installed new signs at the location reading “Defacing Roadway Prohibited” and “No Impeding Traffic.”

One activist told a local news station that he was warned by Florida Highway Patrol troopers that he could be arrested and charged with criminal mischief if caught replacing the rainbow art again.

Cities all over the state of Florida have been ordered to remove rainbow crosswalks, which for years have been installed in celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, with state officials citing noncompliance with traffic control guidelines as reasons for the others.

Activists and elected officials, however, have called the move anti-LGBTQ+ after Republican Gov. Ron Desantis tweeted, “We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes,” backing up statements made by President Donald Trump’s transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, who in July called rainbow crosswalks “political banners.”

Many, including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, have pointed out that the rainbow crosswalk was first installed in close coordination with the state and then-Republican Gov. Rick Scott, and that it adheres to national safety standards.

Some Florida cities, like Boynton Beach and West Palm Beach, have quietly complied with state orders to remove their rainbow crosswalks, the Palm Beach Post reported, while others, including Delray Beach and Key West, are fighting the directive and seeking legal clarification.

Delray Beach will have an administrative hearing on Sept. 2 to discuss the removal of its downtown rainbow crosswalk, and Delray Beach has reportedly been ordered to remove its crosswalk by Sept. 3, with FDOT warning the city manager it will have state officials to the work and then bill the city if local authorities don’t comply.

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Locals protest the removal of the rainbow crosswalk installed to honor victims of the 2016 Pulse night club shooting.

NurPhoto via Getty Images

Crucial Quote

“This callous action of hastily removing part of a memorial to what was at the time our nation’s largest mass shooting, without any supporting safety data or discussion, is a cruel political act,” Dyer said, arguing that the crosswalk actually enhanced safety and visibility for pedestrians visiting the memorial.

What To Watch For

If the state does the work itself. FDOT has the authority to order the removal of nonstandard street markings and can do the work at a city’s expense if local officials refuse, the Post reports, but some cities are arguing that city-owned streets are under local jurisdiction and seeking legal clarification before erasing rainbow murals.

Tangent

Duffy on July 1 launched what he called the Safe Arterials for Everyone through Reliable Operations and Distraction-Reducing Strategies—SAFE ROADS—initiative. The program targets non-freeway arterial roads, where the Federal Highway Administration says more than half of U.S. roadway deaths occur, and calls to remove “non-standard” roadway markings, including rainbow crosswalks, from streets nationwide. The directive was issued via a letter to state governors. While the letter did not specifically mention rainbow crosswalks or politics, Duffy posted to X that, “Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks. Political banners have no place on public roads.”

Key Background

Forty nine people were killed and another 53 wounded in June 2016 when a gunman opened fire at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando. The victims were primarily LGBTQ+ and Latino. The shooting was later deemed a terrorist attack after the shooter swore allegiance to the leader of ISIS and was the largest terror attack in the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001. Scott ordered 49 state flags be flown for 49 days in front of the Florida Historic Capitol in Tallahassee, and then-President Barack Obama called the shooting an “act of hate.”

Florida’s Rainbow Crosswalks—Including Dedication To Pulse Victims—Are Latest Culture War Target