A Democrat state senator in Florida just posted a video crying about how the DeSantis administration painted over an Orlando crosswalk that had been painted with the LGBTQ colors near the Pulse nightclub, which is now gone.
They apparently did this overnight and an openly gay Hispanic Sen. Carlos G. Smith ain’t happy about it.
Watch:
Cry harder. I love it. DeSantis FTW!
Here’s more from the Orlando Sentinel:
A rainbow crosswalk was removed overnight outside of Pulse nightclub in Orlando, one of the most significant LGBTQ sites in Florida, as part of state and federal transportation officials’ aim to wipe “political banners” from public roadways.
“The Florida Department of Transportation, in the middle of the night, ripped rainbow colors off [the street],” said state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, who visited the site Thursday morning.
Smith, the first openly gay Hispanic legislator in Florida, added the rainbow was intended to be “a tribute to 49 mostly LGBTQ people of color who were murdered here in cold blood” in the 2016 Pulse shooting.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer confirmed in a statement that the state was responsible for the removal and the city was not notified in advance.
Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan said the city hadn’t received further directives from the Florida Department of Transportation in recent weeks, after initially receiving notice that the artistic crosswalks were in violation of state and federal guidelines.
Instead, she said, FDOT painted over it overnight. Sheehan said she had just seen the rainbow in place Wednesday.
“We did everything according to state law, everything was compliant,” said Sheehan, the city’s first openly gay elected official. “FDOT never moves that quickly with anything.”
The rainbow was first installed on Esther Street in 2017, a year after 49 were killed and 53 were wounded at Pulse, which was known as an LGBTQ nightclub.
“This is a hostile act by the state government against the city of Orlando,” said Smith, D-Orlando. “The city did not consent to this. They did not approve of this.”