Community Recolors Pulse Rainbow Crosswalk After State Erasure, Only To See It Painted Over Again
Protesters used chalk to bring back the rainbow crosswalk outside Pulse, but state crews quickly repainted it.
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Protesters have been gathering at the Pulse nightclub memorial in Orlando after the Florida Department of Transportation painted over the rainbow crosswalk that had stood outside the site since 2017. The tribute was originally approved as a way to honor the 49 people killed in the 2016 shooting. Last week, state crews covered it with black and white stripes under a new rule banning what officials call “non-standard traffic markings.”
City leaders and survivors say the move felt like an attack on the community. Mayor Buddy Dyer described it as “a cruel political act,” and Commissioner Patty Sheehan questioned why it was carried out in the middle of the night. U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost spoke to a crowd of nearly 200 who came to the intersection to protest. “This is a violent act on our community. It’s an act of vandalism in the middle of the night,” he said.
People brought chalk and flags to the crossing, kneeling in the street to fill it with color. Drivers honked in support. 29-year-old Alexis Bishop scrawled a message across the pavement that read, “Queer joy rest love resistance!” She explained to WUSF that “Queer joy is resistance. Queer rest is resistance. Queer love is resistance, when doing the necessary work, and here we all are doing the work, and we are joyful.” Bishop added that the removal feels “upsetting more than anything. We all sit here. We’re stunned, because why? Why cover it? We got the necessary permission in the first place to have it.”
Even as rain washed the messages away, people kept returning. By Sunday morning, Florida Highway Patrol troopers were stationed at the site, telling protesters they could only chalk on sidewalks and warning that using paint would lead to arrest. Some said officers kept changing the rules throughout the day, leaving them unsure what was allowed.
Stephanie Vanos, an Orange County School Board member who came to the scene, said the police presence was meant to discourage people from showing up. “Oh, I think this is straight-up intimidation. That’s what this is about. That’s what is happening here. They are trying to intimidate people by having more, more officers here so that people will be afraid,” she told News 6.
That evening, FDOT returned and repainted the crosswalk black and white. Orlando police and troopers stayed in place. For survivors, the callous removal is personal. “My friends died here. That’s it. This is their memorial. This is theirs,” said Robby Dodd, who lost friends in the shooting.
Pulse survivor Brandon Wolf voiced his frustration online. “More officers babysitting the crosswalk than there were security guards watching the front door of Pulse the night 49 people were murdered. By a lot.”
Several other Florida cities have also been ordered to remove their rainbow crosswalks, with deadlines approaching in the days ahead.
