Rainbow crosswalk outside Florida Pulse nightclub where 49 LGBT+ people were killed is removed overnight on Trump’s orders
Commemorative LGBT+ crosswalk painted over after Trump demand
- Florida officials, under instructions from Donald Trump’s administration, painted over a rainbow crosswalk in Orlando that served as a memorial to the 49 victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub attack.
- The crosswalk, which commemorated the deadliest attack against LGBT+ people in US history, was removed in the early hours of Thursday, surprising local officials and advocates.
- Donald Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had previously instructed states to “eliminate distractions” on public roads, stating that “political banners have no place on public roads.”
- Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer condemned the action as a “cruel political act,” while LGBT+ advocates and Pulse survivors criticised it as an attempt to erase LGBT+ visibility and history.
- The DeSantis administration, which has faced criticism for other anti-LGBT+ policies, cited a memo prohibiting “surface art” with “social, political or ideological messages” on public roads.