Workers paint over rainbow street art — celebrating gay pride — in Boynton Beach on East Ocean Avenue after federal and state officials threateaned to withold millions of dollars for transportation improvements if the artwork isn't removed. Photo provided by WPBF
By Jane Musgrave
When Delray Beach Vice Mayor Rob Long learned city officials were planning to comply with federal and state demands to paint over a 4-year-old rainbow-hued gay pride intersection, he got angry.
But, realizing that the city would risk losing millions of dollars in transportation improvements if it defied the orders, he decided to find ways to keep the spirit of the pride streetscape at Northeast Second Avenue and Northeast First Street — and the road money.
Recognizing that neither the state nor the federal government holds the purse strings for city parks, Long said he is mulling over the possibility of establishing a gay pride symbol on city land. Painting a mural on a city building is another suggestion he is exploring.
By the commission’s Aug. 12 meeting, he said he plans to have something for his fellow elected officials to consider.
“It’s just such vindictive, petty bullshit that our state is focusing on instead of addressing real problems,” Long said.
Other gay rights advocates, who have watched similar streetscapes erased in other cities, share his view.
The stage for the erasures was set on June 30 when the Florida Department of Transportation sent a letter to cities and counties, warning that state road funds could be cut off if “non-compliant traffic control devices and surface markings, including pavement art installations” aren’t removed.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a similar letter to all 50 governors. “Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks,” Duffy said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.
By July 16, Boynton Beach had painted over its colorful streetscape on East Ocean Avenue. West Palm Beach said it, too, will remove a rainbow-patterned crosswalk in the Old Northwood neighborhood.
West Palm Beach, however, is already moving forward with plans to re-create the streetscape at a small park nearby.
Boynton Beach City Manager Daniel Dugger said the city also wants to do something to replace the streetscape. But, no specific plans have been made.
“The city remains committed to finding appropriate ways to honor and celebrate our diverse community and will consider alternative memorial options at a future date,” Dugger said in a statement.
Rand Hoch, president and founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, said the recent dictates on the streetscapes are just another attack by the Trump administration on marginalized groups.
Faced with the threat of losing millions in federal grants, Palm Beach County commissioners and the School Board in recent months temporarily abandoned programs designed to help women, minorities and other disadvantaged groups.
“It makes no sense to blackmail cities,” said Hoch, a longtime gay rights activist. But, he said, sadly it works.
Hoch has been fighting to protect the Delray Beach streetscape since the human rights council paid $16,000 to make it a reality in 2021.
Since then, it has been vandalized three times — most recently in June when a driver burned tire marks into the painted pavement. The driver of the pickup that was captured on video has not been caught by Delray Beach police.
But, Hoch said, the two men who were caught — one who left black marks on the painting during an ad hoc parade to celebrate Donald Trump’s birthday shortly after the streetscape was completed, and another in 2024 — were placed on probation.
“A slap on the wrist,” said Hoch, who wanted both to be charged with hate crimes. All of the vandalism occurred during June — Gay Pride Month.
Hoch bristled at claims by both federal and state transportation officials that the road art causes accidents by distracting drivers.
He claims studies, including one done in 2022 for Bloomberg Philanthropies, found that crashes declined when intersections were painted.
“If you put in colorful crosswalks and intersections, people will slow down,” Hoch said, summing up the findings that prompted cities across the country to paint asphalt.
Likewise, he said, the notion that tax money is wasted is flawed. In Delray Beach, he pointed out that his group paid for the project and the two men who were arrested paid to have it restored.
“The only thing taxpayers are paying for is to cover it up,” Hoch said.
He said he has no plans to fight the decisions. He understands cities need federal and state money to operate and can’t risk losing either.
He applauded West Palm Beach and other cities that are working to find alternative ways to support the gay community.
But, he said, his real reason for not fighting is that, after years of progress, he now has more important battles to wage.
“I’d rather use my political capital to make sure LGBTQ+ people continue to be protected,” he said.
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