State of Florida Removed Pulse Memorial Crosswalk While The City Slept
(August 21, 2025) Orlando, FL - On June 30th, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) issued a memo to municipalities, banning street art containing social, political, or ideological messages on roads, shoulders, intersections, and sidewalks. They cited safety concerns for the aggressive stance and went on to threaten withholding state funding from cities that didn’t immediately comply. The directive targets public art like Pride crosswalks that appear throughout the state and the "Black History Matters" street mural found outside of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum in St. Petersburg, FL.
Since, several cities including West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach and Tallahassee, have started willingly removing the art while the cities of Delray Beach, Miami Beach, Key West and St. Petersburg, FL seem poised to fight back. In a subsequent letter from the State, several of those cities were told to remove the Art by a deadline of Sept 3rd and if they did not, FDOT would come in without further communication to remove the artwork “by any appropriate method”, the expense of which would be charged back to the municipality.
In stunning news, the City of Orlando woke today to learn that the State of Florida had come in overnight on Wednesday under the cloak of darkness and removed the rainbow cross walk that stretched across Orange Ave, the street that sits directly in front of Pulse Nightclub where 49 innocent victims lost their lives in a mass shooting on June 12, 2016. The city of Orlando, it’s Mayor, several elected officials and countless community members condemned the act and began immediately filling the then blank crosswalk spaces in with color chalk.
Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith
Dr. Anna Eskamani, Florida House of Representatives: “In the middle of the night, FDOT painted over our rainbow crosswalk at the Pulse Memorial. A place where 49 mostly LGBTQ+ people were murdered. A tragedy that we have worked so hard to find power in pain. A rainbow crosswalk that sparked joy and showed our love for all people. It was never a political statement, and caring about people of all backgrounds is not meant to be a political statement. And, more visible crosswalks help to increase visibility and safety too.
But what is political, what is authoritative, and what is disrespectful to the 49 lives murdered and our entire community, is sneaking into the city in the middle of the night to literally erase a rainbow crosswalk that was originally established with FDOT approval!
The reality is, Governor DeSantis has no real plan to solve actual problems our community faces, like housing affordability or property insurance — so all he can do is divide us and attack vulnerable communities.
It’s distraction, deflection, and destruction. It’s also straight-up fascism. And we’re not going to let the Governor weaponize state agencies and erase communities without a fight.”
Tatiana Quiroga, ED of Come Out with Pride Orlando: “As the Executive Director of Come Out With Pride, I am deeply saddened and outraged by the Governor’s decision to paint over the rainbow sidewalk at Pulse. That sidewalk wasn’t just paint on concrete — it was a living memorial to the 49 lives we lost, a beacon of love, resilience, and a reminder that our community will not be erased. To see it deliberately covered is painful, but it also reinforces why we must continue to stand together, honor our history, and fight for a future where every LGBTQIA+ person is seen, safe, and celebrated.”
This evening at 6PM, Orlando community members will be joining in protest at the Pulse memorial to rally in the name of the 49 individuals who lost their lives and 50+ who were injured and forever changed 11 years ago at the spot where Pulse and the now removed rainbow crosswalk stood.
Last month, the Trump administration Transportation Secretary and former MTV Real World: Boston cast member announced via Tweet that, “Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks…Political banners have no place on public roads, I'm reminding recipients of [the U.S. Department of Transportation's] roadway funding that it's limited to features advancing safety, and nothing else. It's that simple."
A similar justification was provided by Florida Transportation. However, interestingly, the 2022 Bloomberg Art Asphalt Safety Study concluded:
These projects, including intersection murals, crosswalk art, and painted plazas or sidewalk extensions, have existed for years and are growing in popularity in communities across the world. Though asphalt art projects frequently include specific roadway safety improvements, the art itself is often also intended to improve safety by increasing visibility of pedestrian spaces and crosswalks, promoting a more walkable public realm, and encouraging drivers to slow down and be more alert for pedestrians and cyclists, the most vulnerable users of the road.
2022 Bloomberg Art Asphalt Safety Study
Today, Commissioner Alex Fernandez reported that FDOT had officially ordered Miami Beach to remove their rainbow crosswalk at 12th & Ocean Drive by September 4.
“I am actively working with our team on our options and the strongest path forward. I will fight to ensure that Miami Beach continues to stand for freedom and diversity.”
So where does that leave the remaining cities poised to challenge a Florida governor already sending DOGE officials into cities to gut their budgets and cut funding on a state level the way that DOGE has obliterated federal agencies? In a word? Resilient.
“The State’s decision to strip away the rainbow crosswalk at the Pulse memorial is more than an attack on paint — it is an attack on memory, on community, and on love. That crosswalk honored 49 lives stolen in an act of hate. Erasing it dishonors them all. But let this be clear: removing symbols will not remove us. Our pride, our grief, and our resilience are indelible. Florida’s LGBTQ+ community will not be paved over, and we will not be erased.” - Rocky Butler, NAACP LGBTQ+ State Chair, Florida State Conference
Rachel Covello, Inclusive Tourism Advocate out of St. Petersburg, FL began rallying and organizing community leaders from LGBTQ circles, Arts, Culture, Historical and Black and Brown-focused orgs late in July in an attempt to work with the City in whatever ways would best support City officials in mounting a fight to save the art and symbols of inclusivity that makes St. Petersburg so special.
“Our Save Our Street Murals St.Pete Collective organized weeks ago due to threats of erasure by the state. The rainbow and Black History Matters murals in St Pete are more than decoration—they’re statements that everyone belongs here. Orlando’s loss makes our resolve stronger: we’ll fight through civic action, legal avenues, and community creativity to ensure St. Pete’s symbols of Pride continue to shine bright.” - Rachel Covello
The State of Florida in many regards has been fighting wars on culture, community and the equitable inclusion of the Black, immigrant, Queer and Trans communities for years before a battle on “wokeness” went national. But, they are winning. In many ways, despite the daily attacks passed down through systematic oppression and governmental overreach, legislatively the state is beginning to reflect more of what the population of the state actually supports. Equality Florida Executive Director, Nadine Smith reported,
“Not one anti-LGBTQ bill passed this session. We improved on the tremendous defeat of 21 out of 22 anti-LGBTQ bills last session (2024) for a complete sweep this session, defeating every anti-LGBTQ bill. That’s not luck — that’s the strength of our grassroots movement. It’s students and seniors, faith leaders and frontline workers, parents and teachers, standing together and making sure lawmakers hear us loud and clear: we will not back down. In 2024, 21 of 22 anti-LGBTQ bills were defeated — many were expected to return this year with greater force, buoyed by the largest Republican supermajority in Florida history and a national climate increasingly hostile to LGBTQ issues — particularly Transgender issues. But instead of escalation, lawmakers showed restraint, perhaps weary from years of pushing culture war bills that do nothing to address the real challenges Floridians face. Only four anti-LGBTQ bills were filed in 2025 — and every one of them failed.”
Instead, DeSantis seems poised to push his campaign of hate through memos, threats and procedural changes that don’t require legislative channels while funneling funds into new dystopian hellscape incarceration camps to process captive immigrants. Programs continue to be defunded, Trans folks endlessly battle to exist while hurricane ravaged cities still await repair and exhausted homeowners struggle afford insurance AND groceries. Paint on streets can seem like a foolish thing to fight for if not for all of the things they stand for and all the people they hold space for.
Today the people of Florida lost something. Orlando lost something- but it’s not over. These colors don’t run.
SAVE OUR STREET Murals FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BZTjxLZ5F/
Petition to State of Florida: act.eqfl.org/a/rainbow-crosswalks-action
Save Our Street Murals Petition: https://chng.it/R7CFFgNsmQ