By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Pulse nightclub memorial, Orlando, Florida
The state department of transportation painted over the landmark overnight.
In the predawn hours Thursday, the Florida Department of Transportation sent crews to Orlando’s Pulse nightclub memorial and quietly erased one of its most visible tributes: the rainbow crosswalk that had stretched across West Esther Street since 2017. By sunrise, the vibrant symbol of resilience had been replaced with the stark black-and-white lines of a standard crossing.
Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.
For LGBTQ+ leaders, allies, and survivors of the Pulse massacre, the timing and secrecy felt like an act of desecration.
“In the middle of the night, FDOT painted over our rainbow crosswalk at the Pulse Memorial,” Florida state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, a Democrat from Orlando, posted on X. “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.”
Related: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy implies rainbow crosswalks could lead to traffic dangers
In an interview with The Advocate, Eskamani said Orlando officials had been working within FDOT protocols to preserve the rainbow crosswalk, citing its significance not only to LGBTQ+ Floridians but to the city as a whole. “We experienced a tragedy of 49, mostly LGBTQ+ people, being murdered almost 10 years ago. And so we wanted to preserve this crosswalk,” she said. “Then, apparently, in the middle of the night, FDOT painted over it, with no notice, no warning, and did not tell the city. We only found out this morning because there was no more crosswalk there. It’s so incredibly shameful. Doing it in the middle of the night emphasizes that you’re trying to hide your bigotry.”
Eskamani noted that the state had previously approved the rainbow design and that research shows colorful crosswalks improve pedestrian safety. “This is just layers and layers of absurdity,” she said. “It’s incredibly authoritarian and fascist … the state of Florida is sneaking into our cities to pursue their sick political agenda on an issue that isn’t even political. Literally, it’s a memorial.”
At the site on Thursday morning, State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith stood before the freshly painted crosswalk and recorded a video message. “We just discovered that the Florida Department of Transportation, in the middle of the night, ripped the rainbow colors off of this city crosswalk,” said Smith, the first out gay Latino elected to the Florida Legislature. “They illegally vandalized city property without providing the City of Orlando notice or getting their approval,” he said.
“I cannot believe that the DeSantis administration has engaged in this hostile act against the city of Orlando, that they have insulted the families and survivors of this horrific tragedy, and that they have done this in this way,” Smith said. “Of course, they did this in the middle of the night because they knew what they were doing was wrong. I hope the City of Orlando paints these colors back onto their property and that they sue the state of Florida.”
Brandon Wolf, who lost friends at Pulse but survived the massacre and is now the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, framed the removal as part of a broader effort to erase queer life from public view. “In the dark of night, they came to erase our show of solidarity, our declaration that we will never forget,” Wolf wrote on X. “The cowards who feel threatened by our lives should feel lucky they didn’t have to bury the ones they love — then watch the state come & desecrate their memory.”
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer issued his own blistering statement Thursday, calling the removal “a cruel political act.” “We are devastated to learn that overnight the state painted over the Pulse Memorial crosswalk on Orange Avenue,” Dyer said. “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 emphasized that the crosswalk had been installed by the state itself and was compliant with national safety standards. “This crosswalk not only enhanced safety and visibility for the large number of pedestrians visiting the memorial, it also served as a visual reminder of Orlando’s commitment to honor the 49 lives taken on June 12, 2016,” he said. “While the state works to erase the memory of the victims of the Pulse tragedy by painting over the crosswalk, our community’s commitment to honoring the 49, and completing the memorial, will never waver.”
Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, the city’s first out gay elected official, told the Orlando Sentinel she had seen the rainbow intact as recently as Wednesday. “We did everything according to state law, everything was compliant,” she said. “FDOT never moves that quickly with anything.”
Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, said, “We have endured decades of state-sanctioned discrimination. And, like every attack before it, this act is designed to spread fear, dispirit us, and push us back into the shadows. But just as we did in the hours after Pulse, our community will come together, look out for each other, and raise our flags higher. We refuse to be erased. We will not let hate win.”
Late Thursday evening, FDOT defended the decision in a statement to The Advocate, saying it was part of a broader effort to standardize road markings across the state. “As the state highway department, it is the duty of the Florida Department of Transportation to ensure the safety and consistency of public roadways and transportation systems,” the agency said. “That means ensuring our roadways are not utilized for social, political, or ideological interests.”
The department said it completed a months-long update to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices earlier this year that prohibits non-uniform pavement markings, and in June, notified local governments that failure to comply could result in withheld state funds. FDOT added that it has since conducted a review of all state-maintained roadways and is correcting markings not in compliance, including the Pulse crosswalk.
“Transportation infrastructure is for the movement of people and goods,” the agency said. “In this case, while the crosswalk has been restored to its proper form, local efforts are underway to construct a permanent memorial on adjacent properties funded by the State of Florida. Any attempt to suggest otherwise is false.”
The removal comes weeks after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, an MTV Real World alumnus turned Trump Cabinet member, announced SAFE ROADS, a new initiative aimed at banning “political messages or artwork” from crosswalks and other roadway markings. “Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork,” Duffy wrote to governors in July, instructing them to eliminate rainbow-painted crosswalks and other “distractions.” The federal push echoed years of warnings from the Federal Highway Administration, though the agency has admitted it has no evidence that rainbow crosswalks cause crashes. Advocates counter that colorful designs can increase pedestrian visibility while affirming community identity.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with additional reporting.
Charlie Kirk DID say stoning gay people was the 'perfect law' — and these other heinous quotes