Hundreds march in South Beach, push back on state’s rainbow crosswalk removal order as deadline nears
The battle over rainbow crosswalks across the Sunshine State continued this weekend with marches and protests in South Florida including one in the heart of South Beach News cameras captured a large crowd of demonstrators marching along Washington Avenue Sunday morning Trans rights are human rights chanted a protester I believe in freedom of expression and I think all rights are human rights stated Miami Beach resident Jo Manning Participants in Sunday s march carried rainbow flags and signs as they made their way to the rainbow crosswalk on th Street and Ocean Drive Whose state revealed a man with a bullhorn Our state chanted protesters Demonstrators pushed back on the state s order to erase painted Pride flags and other street art The Florida Department of Transportation has ordered municipalities to remove pavement art related to social political or ideological messages or vulnerability losing state funding It s about the First Amendment it s about the freedom of speech and of syllabus it s about equality commented a protester who identified herself as Julie It s about a sidewalk Is it hate I don t know mentioned another protester Florida Gov Ron DeSantis explained this stems from a state law he signed into action A June memo from FDOT leaders pointed to safety concerns over pavement markings Miami-Dade Mayor Danielle Levine Cava who was on hand at Sunday s event stated these concerns are unfounded It s not even a safety concern because genuinely these are proven to be safer for pedestrians she noted Fighting for our rights and fighting for our safety is what that rainbow crosswalk represents disclosed Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez Sunday s protest comes a day after dozens of people lined up in Fort Lauderdale Beach near Sebastian Street and A A next to a Progress Pride flag painted on the pavement Participants at this demonstration held days after city commissioners in Fort Lauderdale voted to appeal FDOT s order underscored the magnitude of the stakes involved They are trying to erase the LGBTQ-plus district explained protester Karen Matroni There is absolutely no way we re gonna go without a fight and force people to go back into a closet announced protester Hillary Dougherty This weekend s protest comes just over a week after FDOT crews erased the rainbow crosswalk in front of a memorial honoring the people killed in the massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando
