Rainbow crossings in Florida

Last updated

There are several rainbow crossings in Florida. In May 2025, Governor Desantis signed Senate Bill 1662 to keep "our transportation facilities free & clear of political ideologies." [1] Following orders from the Florida Department of Transportation in August 2025, they are being removed along with all non-compliant street art. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Boynton Beach

A rainbow crossing used to be painted in Boynton Beach. The crossing was removed in 2025. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Delray Beach

A rainbow crossing was painted in Delray Beach in 2021. [9]

Funders of the project included the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council via the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. [10]

The rainbow crossing has been vandalized more than once. [11] [12] [13] [10] There have been calls to remove the painting. [14]

Key West

The first rainbow crossings in Florida were painted in Key West in 2015 on Duval Street. [15]

Miami Beach

Miami Beach has crosswalks with rainbow-colored pavers. [16]

Orlando

A rainbow-colored crossing was installed in Orlando, [17] to honor the victims from the Pulse nightclub shooting that occurred on June 12, 2016. [18] An online petition [19] was signed by approximately 2,700 citizens requesting to have it painted nearby the nightclub museum. [20] Approved by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), [21] the project ended up costing about $2,900 with the installation beginning on October 10 and completed the next day on October 11, 2017. [22] The artwork was painted over by FDOT on August 21, 2025. [23] [24] Soon afterwards, people colored the sidewalk with chalk as law enforcement watched and warned them to stay out of the street. [25]

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg had a rainbow intersection that was installed in July 2020. [26] On August 21, 2025, the city sent a letter to the Florida Department of Transportation requesting that five Rainbow Crossings be allowed to stay because they "create a strong sense of community and make roads safer." [27] On August 22, they agreed to remove the street art including the one in front of the Woodson African American Museum of Florida. [28] In December 2025, the city installed 11 rainbow themed bike racks near the intersection where the crossings were removed. [29]

Tampa

Tampa had to remove 47 street art locations in 2025 or lose transportation funding from the state. [30]

West Palm Beach

A rainbow crossing was created in West Palm Beach in 2021. [31] Plans to remove the painting were announced in 2025 [32] [33] and the removal was done on August 25. [34] There are also plans to 'relocate and reimagine' the crossing to the planned Serenity Park in Northwood Village. [35] [36]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Plasencia, Ariel (July 12, 2025). "Rainbow crosswalks could be removed under FDOT and USDOT memos". FOX 13 News. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  2. ↑ Abbott, Jim (August 27, 2025). "After Pulse, state tells Daytona Speedway checkered-flag crosswalks will be repainted". Daytona Beach News-Journal Online.
  3. ↑ "Editorial: Could a little more paint save rainbow crosswalks? Only if Florida leaders play fair". Orlando Sentinel. August 21, 2025. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  4. ↑ Rozsa, Lori (August 15, 2025). "Across the land, rainbow crosswalks face orders to erase 'asphalt art'". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  5. ↑ Whigham, Julius II (July 17, 2025). "Boynton Beach removes Pride-themed crosswalk, citing new federal, state safety mandates". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  6. ↑ Hait, Ari (July 18, 2025). "City paints over pride intersection following Trump administration order". wwnytv.com. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  7. ↑ Hait, Ari (July 18, 2025). "Boynton Beach paints over pride intersection". WPBF. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  8. ↑ Schroeder, Audra (July 16, 2025). "Boynton Beach removes Pride intersection to comply with 'state and federal transportation mandates'". WPTV News Channel 5 West Palm. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  9. ↑ Dorsainvil, Aja (July 24, 2025). "Delray Beach to join other cities in removing its Pride mural, city official says". WPTV News Channel 5 West Palm. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  10. 1 2 Viviani, Nick; Gibson, Jamilka (August 14, 2025). "Delray Beach will not be removing its Pride crosswalk yet". WPEC. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  11. ↑ "Man Charged With Doing 'Burnout' on LGBTQ Pride Crosswalk in Delray Beach". NBC 6 South Florida. June 18, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  12. ↑ Harrell, Gershon; Ortiz, Luli (July 15, 2025). "Vandal targets Delray Beach Pride intersection with burnout marks". WTVX. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  13. ↑ Shields, Malcolm (January 8, 2025). "Florida man sentenced for vandalizing Pride crosswalk". WPBF. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  14. ↑ "State demanding Delray Beach to remove rainbow intersection". WPBF. August 16, 2025. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Key West Installs New Permanent Rainbow Crosswalks". NBC 6 South Florida. June 16, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  16. ↑ Rosa, Amanda (August 21, 2025). "Florida's rainbow crosswalks are being painted over. Miami Beach could be next". Miami Herald.
  17. ↑ Morgan, Michaela (October 13, 2017). "A rainbow crossing has been installed outside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando". SBS Voices. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  18. ↑ Rothaus, Steve (June 12, 2016). "Pulse Orlando shooting scene a popular LGBT club where employees, patrons 'like family'". The Miami Herald. Archived from the original on June 15, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  19. ↑ Smith, Melodi (October 12, 2017). "Rainbow crosswalk to honor Pulse shooting victims". wtsp.com. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Orlando installs rainbow crosswalk near Pulse Nightclub, where 49 died". GoPride Chicago (ChicagoPride.com). October 12, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  21. ↑ "Crews finish rainbow crosswalk near Orlando's Pulse nightclub, where 49 died". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. October 11, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  22. ↑ Cordeiro, Monivette (October 9, 2017). "Orlando mayor says rainbow crosswalk will be installed near Pulse". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  23. ↑ Wiggins, Christopher (August 21, 2025). "FL government paints over Orlando's Pulse memorial crosswalk". www.advocate.com. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  24. ↑ Sopelsa, Brooke (August 22, 2025). "Pulse Memorial's rainbow crosswalk removed overnight in Orlando, Florida". NBC News.
  25. ↑ Hogan, Brandon; McLeod, Emily (August 24, 2025). "Rainbow crosswalk repainted outside Pulse; Florida troopers seen standing by". WKMG.
  26. ↑ DuffyBay, Maggie (August 11, 2020). "Check out the Pride intersection mural in St. Pete's Grand Central District". Tampa Bay Times . Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  27. ↑ Wright, Colleen; Muckle, Shauna (August 21, 2025). "St. Petersburg asks state to keep 5 colorful streets". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  28. ↑ Varn, Kathryn (August 22, 2025). "St. Petersburg to comply with state order to remove Pride, Black history street art". Axios.
  29. ↑ Mendoza, Jesse (December 12, 2025). "After mural crackdown, St. Pete installs 11 Pride-inspired bike racks". Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government. Archived from the original on December 21, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  30. ↑ Rousseau, Beth (August 26, 2025). "Work begins to remove street murals in Tampa". WFLA.
  31. ↑ Detman, Gary (June 3, 2021). "Mayor unveils rainbow-colored crosswalks for LGBTQ pride in West Palm Beach". WPEC. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  32. ↑ Schroeder, Audra (July 18, 2025). "West Palm Beach plans to remove LGBTQ+ crosswalk, 'reimagine' it in public park". WPTV News Channel 5 West Palm. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  33. ↑ Man, Anthony (July 18, 2025). "West Palm Beach removing LGBTQ+ rainbow crosswalk under orders from Trump, DeSantis administrations". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  34. ↑ Shepard, Skyler. "West Palm Beach reimagines LGBTQ+ tribute with park monument after crosswalk removal". WPEC CBS 12 . CBS 12 News. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  35. ↑ Ogles, Jacob (July 21, 2025). "West Palm Beach, Florida, to erase rainbow crosswalk". www.advocate.com. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  36. ↑ Joy, Kathleen. "City Unveils Vision for Reimagined LGBTQ+ Monument at Serenity Park". West Palm Beach. City of West Palm Beach, FL . Retrieved August 26, 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.