Plan B Forum

Pulse Memorial's rainbow crosswalk removed overnight in Orlando, Florida

A rainbow crosswalk in Orlando, Florida, that was part of the city’s Pulse Memorial was painted over by the state late Wednesday night.

The memorial honored the 49 people fatally shot by a gunman at the Pulse LGBTQ nightclub in 2016, in what was the largest mass shooting in the country at the time.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer criticized the removal of the crosswalk on social media, calling it a “cruel political act.”

“We are devastated to learn that overnight the state painted over the Pulse Memorial crosswalk on Orange Avenue,” he wrote. “This crosswalk not only enhanced safety and visibility for the large number of pedestrians visiting the memorial, it also served as a visual reminder of Orlando’s commitment to honor the 49 lives taken.”

Dyer added that the crosswalk adheres to safety standards and was actually installed by the state. It was created in 2017.

Brandon Wolf, one of the Pulse shooting’s surviving victims, said the removal was a desecration of the deceased victims’ memories.

“In the dark of night, they came to erase our show of solidarity, our declaration that we will never forget,” Wolf wrote on X. “The cowards who feel threatened by our lives should feel lucky they didn’t have to bury the ones they love — then watch the state come & desecrate their memory.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis commented Thursday afternoon on X. In response to a video of Democratic state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith criticizing the rainbow crosswalk’s removal, DeSantis wrote: "We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes."

The state Transportation Department and DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The crosswalk’s removal follows a directive last month from President Donald Trump’s transportation secretary, Sean Duffy. On July 1, Duffy sent a letter to all 50 states, along with Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, about roadway safety that stressed “consistent” roadway markings that are “free from distractions.” In a social media post that same day, Duffy shared the letter along with a message taking direct aim at rainbow crosswalks, which are typically intended to symbolize LGBTQ Pride.

“Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks,” he wrote. “Political banners have no place on public roads. I’m reminding recipients of @USDOT roadway funding that it’s limited to features advancing safety, and nothing else. It’s that simple.”

Las Vegas memorial to mass shooting victims should be complete by 10th anniversary | AP News


LAS VEGAS (AP) — Officials in Las Vegas vowed Monday to complete a permanent memorial to victims and survivors of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history by the 10th anniversary of the 2017 attack.

The announcement came one day before the seventh anniversary of the shooting that initially left 58 people dead and hundreds more injured when a gunman opened fire into a crowded country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Two more people died in subsequent years of their gunshot wounds.

Jan Jones-Blackhurst, who chairs the Vegas Strong Fund, the nonprofit in charge of fundraising for and constructing the memorial, said at a news conference that the group hopes to break ground at the site of the attack within six months.

A final design for the memorial, which will feature 58 candle-like beams, was approved last September after three years of planning stalled by the pandemic. Creators envision a park shaped like an infinity symbol in the northeastern corner of the former concert venue, with 22,000 lights representing the number of people who attended the show that night.

A looping path will take visitors through a garden, past a 58-foot (18-meter) glass tower and to a “remembrance ring” with the 58 candles. Each beam will display the name and a photo of a victim.

“For our victims, families, our survivors, we know that you long for a space to lie down, to grieve, to pay respects to those you’ve lost, and to gather in community and remember the good parts of the times you shared together, enjoying music on that fateful night before the shooting started,” said Brian Rogers, a paramedic who responded to the shooting and now serves on the board of the Vegas Strong Fund.

An alternate design that has been approved would feature 15 horse statues representing the home states and countries of the people killed, and two smaller horses for the dozens of children who lost parents in the shooting.

Construction is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, officials said. Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, has donated $1 million.

The permanent memorial will be separate from a community healing garden built in downtown Las Vegas by more than 1,000 volunteers in the days after the shooting.

Scooter wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 22, 2025 3:51 am

The congregation of Joy Metropolitan Community Church in Orlando has vowed to keep coloring in the crosswalk at the Pulse memorial.

DeSantis wrote: "We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes."

“Political banners have no place on public roads. I’m reminding recipients of @USDOT roadway funding that it’s limited to features advancing safety, and nothing else. It’s that simple.”

Florida vows to remove city’s Pride crossing ‘by any appropriate method necessary’

DeSantis, who has waged a war against everything he deems to be “woke” and previously declared that the sunshine state is where diversity initiatives “go to die”, appears intent on advancing his mission to erase LGBTQ+ visibility in Florida.

The city of Delray Beach had voted to maintain the Pride-themed crossing in defiance of DeSantis’ administration, after the city’s vice mayor Rob Long gave a passionate speech. Long also noted that FDOT had failed to issue a formal enforcement letter or make plans to reinstate the intersection elsewhere if it were destroyed.

FDOT has now written to Terrance Moore, Delray Beach’s city manager, demanding that the LGBTQ+ crossing is removed by 3 September or “the Florida Department of Transportation will remove them by any appropriate method necessary without further notice.”

As reported by LGBTQ Nation, the letter added that the state would charge the city for the costs of removal and may withhold state funds if it deans’t comply.

City manager Moore said in a statement: “Like several other communities across Florida, the city of Delray Beach is required to bring the pride intersection into compliance with public safety standard. This work is expected to begin in the coming days.”

In his bid to see the crossing protected, Long said: “Let’s be honest. We all know this is not about traffic safety. This is political.

“It’s part of the same culture war climate where symbols of inclusion are targeted precisely because they represent acceptance. It’s about erasing the visibility of our LGBTQ+ people at the same time when their rights are again under direct threat.”

He added: “Symbols matter. They tell our residents, visitors, and especially our youth that they are seen, valued, and safe here. Removing our pride intersection without commission consensus and without a plan to preserve that symbol elsewhere sends the wrong message at the wrong time.”

The crosswalk’s removal follows a directive last month from President Donald Trump’s transportation secretary, Sean Duffy.   On July 1, Duffy sent a letter to all 50 states, along with Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, about roadway safety that stressed “consistent” roadway markings that are “free from distractions.”   In a social media post that same day, Duffy shared the letter along with a message taking direct aim at rainbow crosswalks, which are typically intended to symbolize LGBTQ Pride.

“Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks,” he wrote.

“... I’m reminding recipients of @USDOT roadway funding that it’s limited to features advancing safety, and nothing else.   It’s that simple.”