Since 2017, the crosswalk near Pulse in Orlando has been painted with rainbow colors to recognize and honor the 49 people killed and 53 people wounded there in 2016 in a mass shooting.
Recently, that rainbow crosswalk was painted over in the middle of the night by order of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. This understandably upset some people who saw it as a politically motivated swipe at LGBTQ+ people because DeSantis has gone out of his way over the years to let LGBTQ+ people know that he does not like us and does not see our humanity.
“What I’m taken aback by is that of all the rainbow crosswalks in Florida, Gov. DeSantis decided the crosswalk attached to the Pulse nightclub memorial was the example he wanted to make,” Florida Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, Florida’s first out Latine lawmaker, told The Advocate.
And so a group of people decided to protest by coloring in the crosswalk with sidewalk chalk, restoring the rainbow. At least temporarily.
Chalk, as many are aware, is ephemeral. Rainfall, a bucket of water, or even blood from 102 people shot with an assault rifle while trying to enjoy Latin Night at a club could easily wash chalk away.
But as I write this, four people have been arrested in connection with the chalking of the crosswalk, charged with “defacing a traffic device,” according to the Orlando Sentinel. According to The Advocate, “the state has now deployed as many as six police squad cars to guard asphalt, their sole mission to prevent the reemergence of rainbow colors at the site of one of the worst anti-LGBTQ+ massacres in U.S. history.”
DeSantis, of course, insists that the painting of the crosswalk is in no way political. It turns out ALL street art in Florida is to be eradicated. The DeSantis administration insists, without evidence, that such art is distracting, “jeopardizing both driver and pedestrian safety,” according to the Orlando Sentinel.
The Sentinel has found otherwise, however, by looking at city traffic data. According to their data “the eye-catching swans, citrus wedges and rainbows made the city a safer place to walk, reducing incidents where drivers slammed on the brakes, swerved or crashed as pedestrians crossed.”
The paper cited the crosswalk near Pulse as an example, reporting “that there were just four crashes in the eight years since the colors were put down.” It also pointed to “bright murals and decorative crosswalks at four intersections on Orange Avenue” where “foot traffic nearly tripled at those sections of the busy road, yet the rate of conflicts with vehicles plunged about 65%.”
That seems significant. But we know that Republicans do not care about facts and data. Nor do they care about people’s lives, as much as they claim otherwise. Don’t listen to what they say; listen to what they do. Republican policies have a knack for endangering people, worsening public health and increasing death.
“I don’t know of a single rainbow crosswalk that has ever killed a child. Yet I can name countless bus stops across this state without traffic lights,” a Florida resident told The Advocate, “real dangers where tax dollars could be used to protect lives, rather than being wasted on erasing LGBTQ+ visibility.”
And yet, here we are.
This fits, given that Florida is the home of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill that sought to strengthen the parental rights of cis het kids and parents at the expense of kids and parents who are not cis het by restricting instruction or discussion regarding sexual orientation or gender identity in schools.
DeSantis also tried to ban lighting bridges in rainbow colors during Pride, co-opting June as part of “Freedom Summer” and declaring that the only color lights that could be used to light up bridges were red, white and blue.
Florida state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani (D-Orlando), said the rainbow crosswalk near Pulse “sparked joy and showed our love for all people.”
Which is, of course, the problem.
The U.S. is squarely in our fascist era. And joy and love for all people have no place in a fascist nation. In fact, fascism depends upon the exact opposite. It also depends on our silence.
I am not a fan of Florida, but maybe it’s time for all of the LGBTQ+ people in the United States to take a field trip. I’ll bring the chalk and the sunscreen. You bring the megaphone and the bail money.
