Long before he became Donald Trump’s secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy was just another entitled frat boy on MTV’s The Real World: Boston. I specifically remember him pouting when the lesbian in the house wouldn’t fall for his bro-y charm or his nauseating come-ons.
Now Duffy has a different queer nemesis, his predecessor, a gay man who makes him look like the lightweight that he is. Pete Buttigieg tackled real problems, modernizing airports, addressing supply chain chaos, and fixing roads, among other things. He was one of the big stars of the Biden administration.
Duffy, by contrast, is a bumbling fool. And, he's out for revenge. Revenge against the lesbian who rejected him on reality TV. Revenge against the gay man who outshone him in the job he now holds. And how does that revenge play out?
Not in fixing roads or rails but in a national letter-writing campaign asking governors to ban rainbow crosswalks. Not safety. Not infrastructure. Not progress. Just spite, pure and simple, and paved with hate.
Earlier this week, Duffy sent a letter to all 50 governors urging them to “remove distractions” like rainbow crosswalks from public roads. It’s a spectacular case of bureaucratic overreach masquerading as safety advocacy. If you believe "distraction" is the reason to remove rainbow crosswalks, then I have a zebra crosswalk in New York City I’d like to sell you.
He dismissed colorful, community-driven, and approved expressions of LGBTQ+ pride as “political messaging or artwork” incompatible with road safety, despite no clear evidence they increase accidents. I follow the news very closely, and I don’t think I’ve seen anything about an alarming trend of accidents on rainbow crosswalks. Have you?
What’s truly absurd is equating a colorful crosswalk with safety hazards, then demanding governors drop local cultural initiatives within 60 days. Now Duffy has turned crosswalks into a political football rather than focusing on structural problems like engineering, enforcement, and driver behavior. You know, things that actually cause accidents.
It’s just another example of the Trump administration being laser-focused on demonizing the LGBTQ+ community. Because, well, we are a clear danger to the lives of Americans. Under the guise of fighting "road hazards," Trump and his administration want to make us roadkill.
That's their priority. It’s not climate change, not crumbling infrastructure, not gun violence, not collapsing hospitals in rural communities. Nope. Rainbow-painted pedestrian crossings are the newest existential threat to the republic.
This isn’t about safety. This is about control. About erasure. About rainbow crosswalks being visible, vibrant, and gay. Three things that make the Trump cabinet recoil like Duffy after a flirtatious pass at a lesbian gone wrong.
Rainbow crosswalk for LGBTQ+ pride in midtown Atlanta, Georgia, 2021 b-squared-15/Shutterstock
Rainbow crosswalks don’t make asphalt slippery. They didn’t start causing traffic jams in downtowns or confuse drivers who, for the record, already know what a stop sign is. No, what they did was reflect the spirit of the communities that painted them. They say we see you to LGBTQ+ residents. They say you belong here. And in Trump’s America, belonging is the biggest threat of all.
And here’s another thing that makes this just so rich and hypocritical. Trump and his ilk are the same crew screaming “states’ rights!” Every time they need a fallback position for something they don’t agree with. For example, abortion? Trump campaigned on it being up to the states.
They now want to override local town councils that democratically voted for these crosswalks. The hypocrisy is so thick you could pave a road with it.
But this is a pattern. First Trump returned to power on a campaign of vengeance and retribution. Then he started gutting colleges, canceling research grants, ripping health care away from communities that depend on it.
His “big beautiful” budget slashes Medicais to the bone, forcing small hospitals to close and sending our most vulnerable neighbors to the brink. Now we’re policing sidewalk color palettes?
What’s next? Colorful stoplights being deemed a “distraction”? Holiday garlands “endangering public order”? Chalk art “promoting the homosexual agenda”?
Will we be forced to drape our lampposts in regulation white to pass inspection? Will Black History Month banners be labeled too “visually confusing”? Will autumn leaf displays require approval by the Duffy’s Department of Transportation because they might be colorfully distracting?
Duffy, a man whose qualifications seem limited to looking like he wandered off the set of a 2004 reality show, is just the latest MAGA minion lining up to erase LGBTQ+ existence from the public square. He joins Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and, of course, the dark prince of cultural warfare himself, Stephen “Pop-Tarts Are Making Kids Gay” Miller.
Miller accused Kellogg’s of “sexualizing” breakfast because a pastry had pink frosting. This is who’s setting policy now. A man who wants to sue cereal. A man who thinks LGBTQ+ people are an aesthetic threat.
Boy, do these guys hate rainbows! Maybe that’s because these characters are all the perfect storm for creating an oppressive autocracy.
But I digress. This isn’t just about colorful paint. This is a metaphor. Trump wants every town in America to trade in their vibrant, inclusive colors for sterile white stripes, a perfect visual for a regime that prefers its Cabinet lily-white and its policies racially charged.
The war on rainbow crosswalks is part of a broader campaign. The Trump administration has scrubbed LGBTQ+ terms from government websites, demonized trans people in the military and schools, and now wants to expunge any trace of us from Main Street.
And after the sidewalks? Don’t be shocked when they start “reconsidering” permits for Pride marches. After all, won’t the floats and flags “confuse” the children? Won’t the drag queens “obstruct traffic”? Won’t the joy and visibility of LGBTQ+ families “threaten public safety”?
That’s the endgame. Erasure by constant edicts from the “Dear Leader.” And all under the false pretense of order and safety.
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