During a period of political unrest and nationwide violence that's unprecedented in recent times, the state of Florida has decided its most pressing issue is its rainbow-painted crosswalks.
In 2016, a devastating mass shooting occurred at the Pulse nightclub, known to be a safe haven for LGBTQ+ individuals in the Orlando, Florida area. With 49 killed and 53 injured, the Pulse shooting became not only one of the deadliest mass shootings but also one of the largest acts of anti-queer violence in United States history.
A rainbow-colored Pride crosswalk was installed to serve as a memorial for those lost in the attack. Not only did it represent those precious lives, it was a powerful message from queer people in the South: We are here. In recent weeks, Florida officials silently painted it black overnight.
I’m not sure if I have ever felt so angry before. Secretly painting over a crosswalk serving as a memorial seems to me like it should make people just as enraged as they would be if someone graffitied a veteran’s memorial in Washington, D.C. What makes this one worth any less? Why should this crosswalk be temporary?
Lives were lost all the same. Innocent people were killed. Picture this: Overnight, the Vietnam War Memorial is scrubbed over with black paint, erasing all the names of the soldiers who died in battle. The memorial then becomes some obsidian-colored pieces of stone in the National Mall.
That was what happened to the Pulse memorial. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis defended the action, claiming that state roads weren’t to be used for political purposes, but the Pulse crosswalk is hardly a political statement. Acknowledging the existence of queer hardship and the consequences of bigotry is not politics. It's a memorial for lives lost, a piece of art that helps LGBTQ+ people feel safe.
If anything, painting over a memorial depicting the pain of being someone LGBTQ+ in the United States is a targeted act of hate. Defending the action with the misguided claim that it was done to prevent “political” markings rather than the truth of the matter — that Florida officials destroyed a memorial — is ignorant. Nobody’s existence is political.
I’ll bring you back to the black-and-white crosswalk in Orlando. What’s the difference? If the Vietnam War Memorial was vandalized, it would make national headlines on every news outlet in the country. When a memorial representing LGBTQ+ lives lost in a horrific shooting is washed away, this country’s government, this country’s press does not care.
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