Fort Lauderdale Still Fighting Removal of Rainbow Crosswalks: ‘We Are the Last Man Standing’
Fort Lauderdale’s legal challenge to Florida’s crackdown on painted street artworks—many of them Pride-themed—may reach a one-day final hearing in May, according to ARTnews. The crackdown began in August 2025 under Governor Ron DeSantis through the Safe Streets program with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), targeting roughly 100 public artworks for removal based on an FDOT memo barring pavement paintings with “social, political or ideological messages,” following guidance from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in July. Fort Lauderdale Interim City Attorney D’Wayne Spence wrote that the city’s petition is, to his knowledge, the only remaining challenge before the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH), after other cities’ efforts faltered, including Orlando’s removal of a rainbow crosswalk honoring the 49 victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting and Miami Beach’s voluntary dismissal of its petition on October 8. Commissioner Steve Glassman told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “We are the last man standing,” arguing the city must resist or risk losing millions in transportation funding.
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This story was covered in Museums on the Brink, Heritage Under Fire