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The crosswalk is one of several that have put Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration at odds with city governments.
The crosswalk was authorized by a Republican administration, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis decided abruptly the colors pose a safety risk.
Citizens repainted the rainbow crosswalk in front of Pulse nightclub in Orlando, but Florida transportation officials painted over the street a second time.
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Florida state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, in a video on Saturday, shared that citizens in the middle of the night had restored a rainbow crosswalk on Esther Street.
“I just discovered that in the dark of night, the Orlando community showed up to the crosswalk outside of Pulse nightclub and they painted it back its original rainbow colors,” he said in a video shared on social media.
But that was short-lived, as the Department of Transportation for the second time in a week came back at night and painted over the crosswalk again.
Smith told The Advocate his understanding was the crosswalk remained in black on Monday morning, and that state Department of Transportation officials had remained on site overnight.
Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat whose district contains the crosswalk, said the community has rapidly rallied around the memorial, including many LGBTQ+ allies. She has seen no notable support for the state’s actions.
“It’s just incredibly frustrating to see money and resources going toward this crosswalk and other crosswalks in the state,” she said. “You can’t look at the state and think they are operating in good faith here. And it is extremely frustrating to me to see agencies like DOT operate this way.”
The crosswalk is one of several that have put Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration at odds with city governments. Other municipalities like Delray Beach are fighting in court about whether intersections or crosswalks in other cities must be removed based on a federal directive from Transportation Secretary and former The Real World cast member Sean Duffy.
Of note, DeSantis walked the crosswalk outside Pulse his first year as governor, just three years after a man swearing allegiance to the Islamic State entered the club and killed 49 victims, most of whom were gay and Latine.
Brandon Wolf, who survived the shooting but lost two friends there, has blasted the Governor for his sudden change in mentality about the intersection.
“When Gov. RonDeSantis visited Pulse — and its colorful, state-approved crosswalk — in 2019 to tell us he would ‘always have our backs,’ he didn’t seem worried that the rainbow was a safety hazard. Or a political statement,” Wolf posted on social media, along with a picture of himself and the Governor at the site.
That was after DeSantis, in his own post, asserted: “We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes.”
Wolf also noted there are now more law enforcement officers protecting the crosswalk from being painted than who manned the front door the night of the deadly shooting.
Other changes in rhetoric around Pulse for DeSantis included the decision this year to omit any mention of LGBTQ+ people in his annual statement honoring victims of the Pulse shooting.
While the DeSantis administration informed other cities like Delray Beach, Key West and Miami Beach of a need to remove sidewalks, state officials gave no warning to Orlando about plans to blacked the colors in front of Pulse.
Smith said that the Pulse crosswalk, unlike others, had been specifically authorized by the Legislature and by the Department of Transportation under Republican Gov. Rick Scott.
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