Jesse Scheckner
Fort Lauderdale isn’t going to dull its roadways quietly.
City Commissioners have voted unanimously to appeal a Florida directive demanding the removal of four street art designs, most notably a rainbow-colored pride flag painted on a beach-adjacent thoroughfare.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration, through the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), ordered Fort Lauderdale to remove the road decorations by Sept. 4 or face removal by the state itself.
Commissioners also approved retaining outside legal counsel to explore all potential recourse if the appeal fails.
That vote went 4-1 on Wednesday, with Vice Mayor John Herbst voting “no.”
Mayor Dean Trantalis said Fort Lauderdale should “stand our ground” now or risk further preemption from the state.
“Where does it end?” he said. “We cannot be bullied into submission and to allow others to dictate what happens in our community.”
Commissioner Pamela Beasley-Pittman agreed.
“We should fight this out to the end,” she said.
The votes came after dozens of residents implored the five-member panel to protect LGBTQ+ visibility. Other speakers argued streets are for transit, not political messaging, echoing a June 30 memo by FDOT Assistant Secretary Will Watts declaring that “non-standard surface markings, signage, and signals that do not directly contribute to traffic safety” could jeopardize driver and pedestrian safety.
That advisory came one day before U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a directive giving Governors 60 days to “get back to the basics” and crack down on the use of streets for expression.
Several other localities across Florida face similar demands from the state.
In Miami Beach, an art deco-inspired rainbow crosswalk on Ocean Drive is under fire. Local officials, including City Commissioners Laura Dominguez, Alex Fernandez and Joseph Magazine, are vowing to challenge the state order.
Key West and Delray Beach officials say they’ll fight the state order too.
In Orlando this month, FDOT painted over a rainbow crosswalk to memorialize the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre. That prompted outraged locals, with support from state officials like Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Rep. Anna Eskamani, to recolor the crosswalk multiple times.
Some municipalities, like Boynton Beach and West Palm Beach, acquiesced to the state’s demands. Tampa confirmed it will remove its street art too, including a pro-police decoration that reads, “BACK THE BLUE.”
St. Petersburg requested an exemption. After the request was denied, Mayor Ken Welch confirmed that the challenged street murals will be removed, but said the city will continue to “find meaningful ways to express our shared values.”
