Rainbow crosswalk murals in Miami Beach, Florida, were removed Sunday in accordance with a memorandum from the Florida Department of Transportation.
Generally, the order requires all artwork on public roadways to be removed. The city of Miami appealed the state decision in September, but was met with failure.
Local advocates of the LGBTQ community find the new state law to be an attack on the demographic. Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez criticized the removal, separating himself and the city from the state’s decision. He also relayed the possible effects it may have on Miamians and how tourists perceive their city.
“To see our own government, our own state government that should be here to protect us, to lift all of its people, to waste the taxpayers’ money in coming in and ripping out brick by brick our symbols of inclusion, our symbols of progress, our symbols of safety — it was heartbreaking at best, grotesque at worst,” Fernandez told The Independent. “To the residents of Miami Beach and our LGBTQ+ tourists from around the world, please know that the removal of this crosswalk was not our decision, it was the State of Florida’s, and we will continue to welcome with open arms and inclusion everyone who visits Miami Beach.”
Some are further dismayed over another demolished Miami crosswalk painted as a memorial for those killed in 2016 in the Pulse nightclub mass shooting, where 59 clubgoers were killed.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer spoke against the removal of this street mural.
“We are devastated to learn that overnight the state painted over the Pulse Memorial crosswalk on Orange Avenue,” Dyer stated. “This callous action of hastily removing part of a memorial to what was at the time our nation’s largest mass shooting, without any supporting safety data, or discussion, is a cruel political act.”
In July, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy provided direction to the states concerning roadways, requesting they be used for their utility and not embellished with any artwork or political messaging.
