{"id":3910,"date":"2025-10-15T03:19:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T03:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/3910\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T03:19:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T03:19:26","slug":"a-crosswalk-made-me-gay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/3910\/","title":{"rendered":"A crosswalk made me gay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"\"<\/a>St. Petersburg, Florida\u2019s Progressive Pride mural on May 30, 2024. Credit: Photo via Maria Flanagan\/City of St. Petersburg I was a happily straight woman until I crossed St. Petersburg\u2019s Central Avenue. As soon as my Sketchers hit the rainbow pavement, they turned into Birkenstocks. The Kia I just parked, turned into a Subaru.<\/p>\n

\u201cGah!\u201d I cried as a septum piercing sprouted through my nose.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow could the Florida Department of Transportation let this happen?\u201d I wept, slinking over to Black Crow to find out what an iced oat matcha is.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not alone. I was cheering on a cop chasing a homeless guy on a bicycle when the officer stumbled too far into a \u201cBlack History Matters\u201d painting on the street. His blues were replaced with a thobe and kente cloth. The cop\u2019s gun turned into a copy of \u201cThe Autobiography of Malcolm X.\u201d He\u2019s still standing there, ranting about the dangers of white devils. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Black History Matters street mural outside the Woodson African American Museum of Florida in St. Petersburg, Florida. Credit: Photo via cityofstpete\/Flickr And, well, I cannot utter the unspeakable things I saw at Tampa\u2019s \u201cBock the Blub<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

Turns out Floridians have been walking and driving across rainbow crosswalks for 10 years. Our tall, sexy, Gov. Ron DeSantis has been in charge for six of them, but now, in the sitting duck days of his last term, he\u2019s finally banning pretty much all street murals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

OK fine, a crosswalk didn\u2019t make me gay. They can\u2019t cure racism either. The DeSantis and Trump administrations know this. They also probably know that painted asphalt has been shown<\/a> to make<\/a> streets<\/a> safer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s the message behind the paint that they\u2019re threatened by.<\/p>\n

FDOT\u2019s aggressive reminder about street art<\/a> came just after St. Pete touched up its own progressive pride mural<\/a>. Trump\u2019s administration put out its memo two days later.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks,\u201d Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X<\/a> in a threat to withdraw funding from municipalities that keep \u201cpolitical banners\u201d in place.<\/p>\n

The question isn\u2019t whether Tampa Bay\u2019s street murals will go, it\u2019s when. Tampa, St. Pete and Sarasota officials told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that they intend to comply with the law, along with at least four other Florida cities. <\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Everyone\u2019s\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t Officials in Tampa know of 47 places with painted streets \u201cincluding multiple crosswalks students help paint for pedestrian safety purposes.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMany are quite faded and barely visible. We will remove them soon,\u201d Adam Smith, Tampa\u2019s Director of Marketing & Communications, told CL.<\/p>\n

St. Pete is making a list of painted infrastructure at FDOT\u2019s request.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to work with our state partners to understand the scope of the memo, timeline for relevant actions, and discuss if any of the City\u2019s public art qualifies for an exemption,\u201d St. Pete Public Information Officer Samantha Bequer told CL.<\/p>\n

Sarasota officials told CL they\u2019re \u201cworking on an action plan to comply\u201d with orders to erase at least three street murals<\/a>, including a rainbow crosswalk.<\/p>\n

Municipalities\u2019 next steps are crucial.<\/p>\n

Leaders could change their minds and join Key West\u2019s fight<\/a> against the mandates. Or they could follow in the footsteps of West Palm Beach, which spun<\/a> its plans to erase rainbow crosswalks into a \u201creimagined LGBTQ monument.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Tampa Bay officials do the same, they won\u2019t be celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. They\u2019ll be celebrating their own cowardice\u2014a historical marker to the time supposed advocates rolled over to Trump and DeSantis\u2019 homophobic white supremacy.<\/p>\n

Whether our leaders resist or replace the murals with monuments to the loss of their spines, know this: No one can powerwash Black and LGBTQ+ rights out of existence. Whether you fight for us or not, we\u2019ll stand on our own.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, while our colorful crosswalks are still here, take a walk. I dare you.<\/p>\n

Readers and community members are always welcome to send letters to the editors<\/a> Please let us know if we may consider your submission for publication.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a>
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This article appears in Jul 24-30, 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

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