Gov. Ron DeSantis is good at burning bridges, but South Floridians are intent on saving bridges. On July 26, hundreds gathered at the Rainbow Bridge connecting Wilton Manors and Fort Lauderdale. It’s part of a response to orders by state and national officials to erase rainbow crosswalks.
Wilton Manors Mayor Scott Newton says the city has not received a notice to destroy the art, supporters of free speech are being proactive. Eric Swanson, who performs under the name Miss Bouvèé, is a leading organizer in the fight to keep LGBTQ culture on the streets and out of the closet.
While rainbow crosswalks are drawing the most attention, the state appears intent on targeting all forms of street art. It remains to be seen if the rainbow bridge could end up drawing the ire of the state in the future.
“It’s important to show there is power in numbers. It’s important to show that a crosswalk isn’t just a crosswalk, a bridge is not just a bridge.” he said in an interview posted on social media. “It’s a symbol of safety and a safe space in our community.”
Florida is sending removal notices to cities with rainbow crosswalks. They sent a team in the middle of the night to remove the one at the Pulse Nightclub memorial in Orlando.
Volunteers came out and restored it with chalk. Now pictures show state troopers watching over the crosswalk to make sure it isn’t “vandalized” again. One person points out that there are now more police preventing a paint job than were on hand the night of the massacre.
Earlier that evening, there was a rally to support Fort Lauderdale’s rainbow crosswalk at Sebastian Beach. The road in question is essentially a street in name only. It connects northbound and southbound A1A and is less than a half-block long.
Wilton Manors Vice Mayor has been sounding the alarm on this for weeks, and his Facebook profile says “Crosswalks aren’t the problem. Hate is. Illuminate love.”
The resistance is visible outside of South Florida.
“This cowardly abuse of power, carried out under the cover of night, is a dangerous escalation of DeSantis’s campaign to erase LGBTQ visibility and censor our history,” said Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality Florida. “We have endured decades of state-sanctioned discrimination. And, like every attack before it, this act is designed to spread fear, dispirit us, and push us back into the shadows. But just as we did in the hours after Pulse, our community will come together, look out for each other, and raise our flags higher. We refuse to be erased. We will not let hate win.”
