Southern Queer Newsroom
(Note, this text was slightly edited by Brittany Rook. An editor's note is included to show additional context.)
Overnight, and for the third time this week, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has removed the rainbow-colored crosswalk honoring the victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, many of whom were members of the LGBTQ+ community. The multicolored crosswalk was initially created in 2017 as part of the larger Pulse Nightclub Memorial, which honors the 49 people who were killed after a gunman opened fire on June 12, 2016, in what was the the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Late Wednesday night on August 20th, FDOT crews painted over the rainbow crosswalk on Esther Street with black paint. Members of the Orlando community showed up the very next morning, using chalk to once again color in the rainbow memorial. That afternoon, in response to community backlash, Governor Ron DeSantis posted on Twitter, "We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes."1
Since the initial desecration of the Pulse Memorial by the state of Florida on Wednesday, community members have returned daily to color in the rainbow crosswalk, only for FDOT crews to once again paint it black overnight. At the request of FDOT, the Orlando Police have increased patrols of the crosswalk site, with marked patrol cars seen at the Dunkin' Donuts parking lot across the street.
This standoff in Orlando is just the latest act in a long list of anti-LGBTQ+ policies and intimidation tactics by the DeSantis administration, which has touted such discriminatory legislaton as the "Parental Rights in Education Act" in 2022 and the "Safety in Private Spaces Act" in 2023.
In an August 25th press release, Equality Florida praised community members for turning out in the face of governmental erasure: "DeSantis may paint over rainbows and art, but people are answering with defiance – chalking sidewalks, raising flags, covering cars with stickers, and businesses painting their parking lots with rainbows. These acts declare: we are not intimidated and we will not be erased."
Editor's note
1) This is in spite of the fact that multiple roads in Florida are named for Confederate generals.
2) You can find additional reporting from Erin Reed at Erin in the Morning and from Joe Byrnes at NPR.