Rainbow crossings in Florida

Last updated

There are several rainbow crossings in Florida. Following orders from the Florida Department of Transportation in 2025, they are being removed along with all non-compliant street art. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Boynton Beach

A rainbow crossing used to be painted in Boynton Beach. The crossing was removed in 2025. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Delray Beach

A rainbow crossing was painted in Delray Beach in 2021. [8]

Funders of the project included the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council via the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. [9]

The rainbow crossing has been vandalized more than once. [10] [11] [12] [9] There have been calls to remove the painting. [13]

Key West

The first rainbow crossings in Florida were painted in Key West in 2015 on Duval Street. [14]

Miami Beach

Miami Beach has crosswalks with rainbow-colored pavers. [15]

Orlando

A rainbow-colored crossing was installed in Orlando, [16] to honor the victims from the Pulse nightclub shooting that occurred on June 12, 2016. [17] An online petition [18] was signed by approximately 2,700 citizens requesting to have it painted nearby the nightclub museum. [19] Approved by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), [20] the project ended up costing about $2,900 with the installation beginning on October 10 and completed the next day on October 11, 2017. [21] The artwork was painted over by FDOT on August 21, 2025. [22] [23] Soon afterwards, people colored the sidewalk with chalk as law enforcement watch and warned them to stay out of the street. [24]

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg has a rainbow intersection, as well as other painted street murals. [25] in August 2025, they agreed to remove the street art including the one in front of the Woodson African American Museum of Florida. [26]

Tampa

Tampa had to remove 47 street art locations in 2025 or lose transportation funding from the state. [27]

West Palm Beach

A rainbow crossing was created in West Palm Beach in 2021. [28] Plans to remove the painting were announced in 2025 [29] [30] and the removal was done on Monday, August 25th. [31] There are also plans to 'relocate and reimagine' the crossing to the planned Serenity Park in Northwood Village. [32] [33]

See also

References

  1. Abbott, Jim (August 27, 2025). "After Pulse, state tells Daytona Speedway checkered-flag crosswalks will be repainted". Daytona Beach News-Journal Online.
  2. "Editorial: Could a little more paint save rainbow crosswalks? Only if Florida leaders play fair". Orlando Sentinel. August 21, 2025. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Hait, Ari (July 18, 2025). "City paints over pride intersection following Trump administration order". wwnytv.com. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  6. Hait, Ari (July 18, 2025). "Boynton Beach paints over pride intersection". WPBF. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 1 2 Viviani, Nick; Gibson, Jamilka (August 14, 2025). "Delray Beach will not be removing its Pride crosswalk yet". WPEC. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  10. "Man Charged With Doing 'Burnout' on LGBTQ Pride Crosswalk in Delray Beach". NBC 6 South Florida. June 18, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  11. Harrell, Gershon; Ortiz, Luli (July 15, 2025). "Vandal targets Delray Beach Pride intersection with burnout marks". WTVX. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  12. Shields, Malcolm (January 8, 2025). "Florida man sentenced for vandalizing Pride crosswalk". WPBF. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  13. "State demanding Delray Beach to remove rainbow intersection". WPBF. August 16, 2025. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  14. "Key West Installs New Permanent Rainbow Crosswalks". NBC 6 South Florida. June 16, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  15. Rosa, Amanda (August 21, 2025). "Florida's rainbow crosswalks are being painted over. Miami Beach could be next". Miami Herald.
  16. Morgan, Michaela (October 13, 2017). "A rainbow crossing has been installed outside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando". SBS Voices. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  17. 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.
  18. Smith, Melodi (October 12, 2017). "Rainbow crosswalk to honor Pulse shooting victims". wtsp.com. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  19. "Orlando installs rainbow crosswalk near Pulse Nightclub, where 49 died". GoPride Chicago (ChicagoPride.com). October 12, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  20. "Crews finish rainbow crosswalk near Orlando's Pulse nightclub, where 49 died". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. October 11, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  21. Cordeiro, Monivette (October 9, 2017). "Orlando mayor says rainbow crosswalk will be installed near Pulse". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  22. Wiggins, Christopher (August 21, 2025). "FL government paints over Orlando's Pulse memorial crosswalk". www.advocate.com. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  23. Sopelsa, Brooke (August 22, 2025). "Pulse Memorial's rainbow crosswalk removed overnight in Orlando, Florida". NBC News.
  24. Hogan, Brandon; McLeod, Emily (August 24, 2025). "Rainbow crosswalk repainted outside Pulse; Florida troopers seen standing by". WKMG.
  25. Wright, Colleen; Muckle, Shauna (August 21, 2025). "St. Petersburg asks state to keep 5 colorful streets". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  26. Varn, Kathryn (August 22, 2025). "St. Petersburg to comply with state order to remove Pride, Black history street art". Axios.
  27. Rousseau, Beth (August 26, 2025). "Work begins to remove street murals in Tampa". WFLA.
  28. Detman, Gary (June 3, 2021). "Mayor unveils rainbow-colored crosswalks for LGBTQ pride in West Palm Beach". WPEC. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  29. 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.
  30. Man, Anthony (July 18, 2025). "West Palm Beach removing LGBTQ+ rainbow crosswalk under orders from Trump, DeSantis administrations". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  31. Shepard, Skyler. "West Palm Beach reimagines LGBTQ+ tribute with park monument after crosswalk removal". WPEC CBS 12 . CBS 12 News. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  32. Ogles, Jacob (July 21, 2025). "West Palm Beach, Florida, to erase rainbow crosswalk". www.advocate.com. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  33. 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.