Under the cover of night Florida erased a vibrant memorial tribute as Trump’s “Safe Roads Initiative” swept away the Pulse rainbow crosswalk honoring the 49 victims

22 August 2025

A rainbow crosswalk outside Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Credit : Todd Stewart/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty

In the early hours of August 21, Florida’s Department of Transportation quietly painted over a rainbow-colored crosswalk at Orange Avenue that had stood as both a memorial and civic tribute to the 49 people murdered in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting. Federal directives under President Trump’s SAFE ROADS Initiative administered by then-Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy prompted the removal, which was quickly criticized as politically motivated and insensitive.

Mayor Buddy Dyer of Orlando decried the move as a “cruel political act,” underscoring that the crosswalk had been installed in coordination with the state and met all national safety standards. He emphasized its importance not only in honoring the victims but also in enhancing pedestrian safety for memorial visitors. Within hours of its removal, local volunteers restored the homage using sidewalk chalk, reclaiming a fragment of space for public remembrance.

State officials framed the rationale around safety. Governor Ron DeSantis defended the decision, stating that roads “should not be commandeered for political purposes.” Similarly, the Florida DOT portrayed the removal as compliance with a uniform design standard, designed to eliminate what federal guidelines label “non-standard” and potentially distracting road markings.

But critics saw it differently. State Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith and others condemned it as an attack on LGBTQ+ visibility and community memory. These concerns are not limited to Orlando. Rainbow crossings in locations such as Boynton Beach, Miami Beach, and St. Petersburg are now under threat, raising alarms in communities that view such street art as vital cultural expressions and safety features.

This episode is the latest in a series of actions by the Trump administration and DeSantis’ office targeting visible affirmations of identity. From scrubbed LGBTQ+ references on federal websites to museum exhibits stripped of LGBTQ+ and racial diversity, these shifts reflect a broader cultural rollback.

As Orlando approaches the 10th anniversary of the Pulse massacre, the erasure of the rainbow crosswalk casts a pall over commemorations. It underscores a broader contest between institutional authority and community remembrance and raises a pressing question: when public art is viewed as dangerous or divisive, what happens to collective memory?