TL;DR
- Florida cities are ordered to remove rainbow crosswalks and murals or risk losing funding.
- Gov. Ron DeSantis frames the removals as keeping roads “free of politics.”
- LGBTQ leaders call it a blatant attack on visibility and inclusivity.
- The Pulse Nightclub memorial crosswalk was among the first erased, sparking outrage.
- Communities vow to fight back with even bigger, more permanent displays of pride.
Florida’s War on Rainbows
FORT LAUDERDALE — Florida is at it again, and this time the target is the street beneath your feet. Cities across the state are scrambling to decide whether to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order to strip rainbow-painted crosswalks and murals or risk losing millions in funding.
The Department of Transportation claims it’s about “safety” and “consistency” — code words that LGBTQ Floridians know all too well. From Fort Lauderdale to Miami Beach, local leaders are holding emergency meetings, bracing for the deadline to wipe away vibrant public art that has become both memorial and beacon for queer communities.
But let’s be real: rainbow crosswalks aren’t traffic hazards — they’re cultural lifelines. For many, like the one honoring the 49 lives lost in the Pulse Nightclub massacre, these colors carry grief, resilience, and the audacity of visibility in a state determined to erase them. Watching work crews paint over that Orlando crosswalk in the dead of night only sharpened the sting.
A Heavy-Handed Crackdown
DeSantis has positioned himself as America’s chief culture warrior, and he’s not stopping at classrooms or libraries. He’s now literally scrubbing the streets of Florida clean of anything resembling inclusivity. “We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes,” the governor posted on X, doubling down on his stance.
Federal officials gave governors nationwide the option to clear such markings, but DeSantis is the only one aggressively carrying it out. Unsurprisingly, the rainbow art is lumped in with everything from student-designed bike lanes to a “Back the Blue” mural in Tampa — collateral in a political agenda that thrives on erasure.
And local leaders who dare to push back? They know the risks. The governor has yanked officials from office before for failing to toe his line. The message is clear: challenge him, and you’ll pay.
Communities Refuse to Fade
Still, resistance runs deep. “It is just one more attempt to wipe away our existence as if we don’t even belong here,” said Robert Boo, CEO of Pride Center Florida. But others, like Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez, are calling for appeals and new strategies. “They can’t strip away our pride,” Fernandez insisted, reminding Floridians that identity isn’t bound by asphalt.
Locals, too, are refusing to be intimidated. “We’re going to take five steps forward,” said Fort Lauderdale resident Jason Osborne after visiting a mural with his boyfriend. “Because now we are going to paint buildings. You’re gonna see people do more because people love each other.”
Pride That Won’t Be Paved Over
For LGBTQ Floridians, rainbow crosswalks are more than decoration — they’re symbols of belonging in a state that keeps telling them to disappear. Each brush of black and white paint is meant to send a message: Pride doesn’t belong here. Yet, as history has shown, attempts to erase queer people only fuel stronger defiance.
In the face of erasure, Florida’s LGBTQ community is turning protest into art, grief into action, and crosswalks into battlegrounds for visibility. You can repaint the streets black and white — but you can’t erase the rainbow burning in people’s hearts.