Headline Roundup • August 22nd, 2025
Orlando City Officials Denounce Removal of Pulse Night Club Memorial
Summary from the AllSides News Team
An order from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) requires cities to remove rainbow colors and other artwork in crosswalks and on streets, including a memorial honoring the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016.
The Details: The memo from FDOT requires the removal of “social, political or ideological messages or images and does not serve the purpose of traffic control” from streets. Orlando, Delray Beach, Key West, Tallahassee, and St. Petersburg are among the cities notified that they could lose transportation funding if they do not remove such art. Some installations include rainbow-colored intersections, a Black Lives Matter mural, and a University of South Florida-themed crosswalk.
Pulse Night Club Memorial Removal: A rainbow crosswalk outside of Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, was removed overnight on August 22. ABC News (Lean Left bias) reported that Orlando officials called it “an attack on LGBTQ lives by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration.” ABC quoted Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer saying, “This crosswalk not only enhanced safety and visibility for the large number of pedestrians visiting the memorial, it also served as a visual reminder of Orlando's commitment to honor the 49 lives taken.”
Other Works Targeted: Tallahassee Democrat (Center) highlighted student artwork outside of schools that FDOT will require to be painted over as part of the mandate. The director of the organization that initiated the art project wrote a letter arguing that the art increased traffic safety, noting that “the colorful crosswalks proved to limit the number of cars running the stop light and stop sign.”
DeSantis Response: Fox News (Right) reported that DeSantis “fired back” at Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith’s (D-FL) denouncement of the removal. DeSantis said, “We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes.”
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Orlando Sentinel file photo/Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fired back after Democratic state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith decried the state's move to nix rainbow colors from a crosswalk in Orlando near the site of the 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub that left 49 dead and others wounded.
In a video that he posted on Thursday, the state lawmaker said "the Florida Department of Transportation, in the middle of the night, ripped the rainbow colors off of this city crosswalk."
Orlando officials on Thursday denounced the overnight removal of a rainbow-colored crosswalk outside the Pulse nightclub where 49 people were gunned down, saying it was part of an attack on LGBTQ lives by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said the painting over by state workers of the crosswalk with rainbow colors often associated with LGBTQ pride was “callous” and "a cruel political act.” The massacre at the LGBTQ-friendly nightclub in 2016 was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history at the time.
Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat
What began as a cheerful safety project by Leon County students – bright crosswalks splashed with color outside their schools – will be painted over this week, casualties of a state law cracking down on street art.
An Aug. 15 letter from the Florida Department of Transportation demanded the city of Tallahassee pave over the artwork immediately or risk a loss of state funding. The city is complying with the state's orders and is expected to quickly begin painting over the crosswalks to meet the state's Sept. 3 deadline.
