AUGUST 20, 2025:

UNDER THE COVER OF NIGHT LIKE THE COWARDS THEY ARE, THE STATE OF FLORIDA PAINTED OVER A RAINBOW CROSSWALK THAT STOOD AS A TRIBUTE SINCE 2017 TO THE VICTIMS OF THE MASS SHOOTING AT PULSE NIGHTCLUB.

WHEN ASKED FOR A COMMENT, GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS POINTED TO HIS POST ON X: “WE WILL NOT ALLOW OUR STATE TO BE COMMANDEERED FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES.”

PAYING TRIBUTE TO VICTIMS WHOSE LIVES WERE LOST IN A HORRIFIC ACT OF VIOLENCE IS NOT POLITICAL. NOR IS SUPPORTING THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY. PERIOD. YET SADLY, THIS IS NOT THE ONLY RAINBOW CROSSWALK BEING REPAINTED. ANOTHER ONE HAS ALREADY BEEN PAINTED OVER AT BOYNTON BEACH IN FLORIDA AND THERE’S MORE TO COME.

POTENTIALLY MANY MORE AND IN OTHER STATES DUE TO THE BULLYING OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.

READ MORE ABOUT THIS FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES OR FROM ONE OF THE LOCAL ORLANDO TV STATIONS.

back to JULY 1, 2025:

TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY SEAN P. DUFFY (WHICH SOUNDS ALARMINGLY CLOSE TO SOMEONE ELSE’S NAME) SENT A LETTER TO STATES AND SAID, “ROADS ARE FOR SAFETY, NOT POLITICAL MESSAGES OR ARTWORK.” HIS LETTER GIVES GOVERNORS 60 DAYS TO DIRECT THEIR DEPARTMENTS OF TRANSPORTATION “TO IDENTIFY A LIST OF ARTERIAL SEGMENTS, INCLUDING INTERSECTIONS, WITH POTENTIAL OR DOCUMENTED SAFETY OR OPERATIONAL CONCERNS THAT WILL BE ADDRESSED” AND “SUBMIT A LIST OF THESE SEGMENTS TO THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION.” (SOURCE: USDOT).

IN FACT, COUNTLESS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT PAINTING THESE INTERSECTIONS ACTUALLY INCREASES SAFETY SUCH AS THIS 2022 STUDY BY BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES. 

THE STUDY EXAMINED THE CRASH HISTORY AT 17 ASPHALT ART SITES ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHERE THERE WAS A MINIMUM OF TWO YEARS OF CRASH STATISTICS. AND IT FOUND 83 FEWER CRASHES AT THE ANALYZED INTERSECTIONS — MORE THAN A 50 PERCENT DECREASE COMPARED WITH DATA FROM BEFORE THE CROSSWALKS WERE PAINTED.

forward to OCTOBER 11, 2025:

ON NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY, IN SUPPORT OF THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY AND IN SUPPORT OF SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN SAFETY, WE ARE PAINTING IT BACK AND PAINTING IT FORWARD.

HERE IN SAN FRANCISCO, WE WILL ADD ANOTHER RAINBOW CROSSWALK TO OUR PROUD COLLECTION — THIS ONE RIGHT IN FRONT OF CITY HALL. IF WE CAN’T GET PERMISSION TO DO IT PERMANENTLY, WE WILL DO IT WITH TEMPORARY PAINT OR CHALK.

WE ENCOURAGE OTHERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO JOIN US.

IF YOUR CITY HAS HAD A CROSSWALK PAINTED OVER, PAINT IT BACK.

IF YOUR CITY HASN’T EXPERIENCED THIS HATE, PAINT IT FORWARD.

STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS BLATANT HATE AND ATTEMPT TO ERASE THE COMMUNITY. JOIN US BY PAINTING A PROMINENT CROSSWALK — IDEALLY IN FRONT OF A GOVERNMENT BUILDING.

KEEP SCROLLING TO FIND AN EVENT NEAR YOU.