FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The Florida Department of Transportation painted over rainbow crosswalks in Delray Beach and Key West early Tuesday, escalating a growing conflict over the state’s order to remove Pride-themed street markings.
In Delray Beach, FDOT officials acted before dawn to erase the city’s Pride Intersection, less than 12 hours after issuing an order directing the city to remove the crosswalk, city officials said.
City leaders said the move denied them the opportunity to review the directive and respond as an elected government body.
“FDOT disregarded the City’s good-faith efforts to follow established procedures,” city officials said in a statement. “While FDOT’s action cannot be undone, Delray Beach remains steadfast in its commitment to unity, respect and the fundamental human rights that belong to every member of our community.”
Officials in Key West described a similar circumstance happening there.
“We had a final order from the Florida Department of Transportation that was made available to us late yesterday afternoon and then, in the wee hours of the morning today, something like between 2 and 3 a.m., it seems that FDOT had their workers in Key West to paint over the crosswalks,” said Key West Commissioner Sam Kaufman.
Commissioners in Delray Beach gathered Tuesday afternoon in an emergency meeting to address the crosswalk.
“We are having an emergency meeting tonight to clean up their mess, to clean up their trespass and destruction of property within our city,” said Delray Beach Vice Mayor Rob Long.
The Delray Beach commission, upset by the abrupt action by FDOT, blamed the agency for creating unsafe conditions a new law was intended to prevent.
“So the FDOT came in last night without a work permit into our city streets that we own and maintain and created a liability and an unsafe condition that we now have to deal with,” said Long. “We are having an emergency meeting tonight to clean up their mess.”
The controversy has drawn attention across Florida after similar removals, including the rainbow crosswalk outside the Pulse nightclub memorial in Orlando, which honors the 49 people killed in the 2016 massacre at the LGBTQ-friendly nightclub.
Joe Saunders, from Equality Florida, said the state’s actions can be summarized in one word.
“Extortion,” said Saunders. “It’s an abuse of power and it’s part of a broader effort to silence local democracy. He’s testing, testing whether city councils and commissions and mayors can be reduced to window dressing.”
There’s a progress Pride flag painted on the street near Sebastian Street and A1A that some worry may be next.
“It’s about the first amendment, it’s about freedom of speech and of course, it’s about equality,” said a woman protesting.
“My concern now is for the citizens of Key West,” said Jai Somers, an activist in Key West.
Among the four markings in Fort Lauderdale that FDOT says needs to be removed, only the one on Sebastian Street is LGBTQ related.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has defended the removals, saying cities must comply with state law and insisting the directive will be enforced across the state.
“I know Key West is coming up, Delray Beach, there may have been one or two others who basically just said, ‘We’re not gonna comply,’ or whatever,” said DeSantis. “Guys, it’s gonna get done, we’re gonna follow the law and so, you can do it the easy way, you can do it the hard way.”
As of Tuesday, the Fort Lauderdale Beach crosswalk and the Miami Beach Ocean Drive crosswalk have not been painted over.
The Delray Beach commission decided they will follow through with a lawsuit arguing FDOT did not go through the legally required rule-making process.
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