Boynton Beach, Florida has painted over an LGBTQ+ rainbow crosswalk after receiving orders from Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Trump Administration.
The South Florida city’s LGBTQ+ friendly intersection at East Ocean Avenue and Southeast First Street, which was unveiled in June 2021 according to Pink News, was recorded being painted-over by a road crew last week, but reappeared almost immediately in an act of protest from the city’s queer community.
The state and federal government didn’t just target Boynton Beach’s rainbow crosswalks, but all rainbow crosswalks statewide. In a statement, city officials said the act of erasure was “to ensure full compliance with state and federal transportation mandates.” This supposedly references the U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s recent X post that reads: “Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks.”
Duffy went on to claim such crosswalk displays were a “dangerous distraction” on roadways, though there is little evidence that rainbow crosswalks have increased or influenced road accidents. The Advocate reports that last year, traffic fatalities went down despite the presence of Pride walkways around the country.
A Fox affiliate in Tampa reported that DeSantis signed a bill this year banning “nonstandard surface markings, signage, and signals that do not directly contribute to traffic safety.”
Pride crosswalks around the country, including Boynton City’s have been subject to vandalism through the years. During Pride month in 2023, a motorcyclist was recorded by surveillance burning out over Boynton City’s rainbow crosswalk, leaving black tread marks across the image of hope.
Pride crosswalks began cropping up around Florida following the Pulse mass shooting which killed 49 LGBTQ+ people in Orlando.
At the moment, other cities in Florida have not yet rushed to paint over their Pride displays.
