FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis joined the voices who oppose the Florida Department of Transportation’s order to remove rainbow crosswalks.
Fort Lauderdale officials received a threatening notice referencing four locations that need to be changed by Sept. 4. Trantalis said it has nothing to do with safety.
“It’s an attempt to try to erase the image and the presence of anything that has to do with the gay and lesbian community,” Trantalis, who is openly gay, said.
Eric Swanson, better known as Miss Bouvèè, said he is looking forward to a demonstration against the FDOT order at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, at Sebastian Street and A1A, in Fort Lauderdale Beach.
“I’ve been seeing a lot of the crosswalks I have done things on and crossed and been part of prides in, so, of course, I have a deep ownership of it,” Swanson said. “A crosswalk doesn’t define us. It’s the principle of the fact, it symbolizes a safe space for us.”
In June, Will Watts, FDOT assistant secretary, issued a memo prohibiting the “surface art” that “does not serve the purpose of traffic control.”
The FDOT orders and non-compliance warnings over “surface art that is associated with social, political, or ideological messaging” followed. These have also impacted Key West, Miami Beach, and Delray Beach.
“It feels like the state wants to erase our vibrant community,” Miami Beach Commissioner Laura Dominguez said.
In Orlando, the order impacted tribute art near the Pulse Nightclub memorial. A man armed with a rifle chose June 12, 2016. It was the club’s LGBTQ-Latin-friendly night. He shot 102 people -- 49 died and 53 were injured. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer described the FDOT order to remove the tribute as a “callous” and “cruel political act.”
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