LGBTQ Activists To Gather At Site Of Removed Rainbow Crosswalk In Sarasota

SARASOTA, FL — Project Pride SRQ, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, is hosting a community gathering Saturday at the site of a rainbow crosswalk removed by the state.

In August and early September, the Florida Department of Transportation removed and called for the removal of rainbow crosswalks, including one outside the Pulse nightclub mass shooting memorial in Orlando, and other street murals across the state claiming the art was inconsistent with the FDOT Design Manual.

The organization is hosting “Compassion at the Crosswalk” at 6:30 p.m. at the intersection of 2nd Street, Coconut Avenue and N. Pineapple Avenue — the former location of Sarasota’s Pride crosswalk.

Speakers at the event will include Project Pride SRQ executive director Tom Edwards, Harvest Sarasota/Harvest House president and CEO Dan Minor, and Rabbi Jennifer Singer.

“The first thing I thought when I heard that they were being removed, the crosswalks across the state, I just assumed that the governor was being a bully toward the LGBTQ+ community, and it wasn't the first and probably won't be the last time that he does that,” Edwards told Patch.

He was deeply affected when he learned that the Pulse memorial was the first street mural removed by the state.

• See Also: Artists, Activists Respond To Removal Of Street Murals By FDOT Crews

“That broke my heart because his intention was to hurt the LGBTQ+ community but who he hurt more than anyone was the 49 families who had their grief and trauma retriggered with the erasement of the memorial to their family members,” he said.

This inspired Project Pride’s community gathering on Saturday to speak out against state leaders, led by Gov. Ron DeSantis, targeting the gay community, he said.

“We organized it so that one community that also had a crosswalk removed could share empathy and compassion with the families whose loved ones were erased,” Edwards said.

The event is designed to bring attention to the crosswalks’ removal, he said. “For our community at large, not just the LGBTQ+ community. It was an assault on our art community as well because we lost the chalk walk sidewalk at Burns Court, too.”

Edwards added, “It’s not just the LGBTQ+ community that is upset by this. Many in the city and the county are upset that the governor attacks our community the way he does … He attacked all of us, not just the gay community. One of the missions of Project Pride is to point out that all of us, whether we’re seniors, veterans, gay, we’re trans, we’re Black — we’re being bullied and attacked.”

Saturday’s gathering will acknowledge and memorialize the message of the intersection’s Pride crosswalk.

“And also to let the governor know that he thinks he won that battle, but we’re smarter and we’re more resilient than he is,” Edwards said. “I know all of this is meant to intimidate us, but we’re not fearful; we know we’re on the right.”