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In a literal erasure of LGBTQ+ identity in South Florida, the city of Boynton Beach has complied with recent orders from Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the Trump administration to eliminate a rainbow crosswalk in the beachside city.

Video reveals a road crew painting over the once-colorful intersection at East Ocean Avenue and Southeast First Street on Wednesday morning. It’s now painted black.

Boynton Beach has “removed the inclusionary-painted intersection on the 100 block of East Ocean Avenue to ensure full compliance with state and federal transportation mandates and address safety concerns,” a statement from the city read. “The decision follows recent guidance from the U.S. Transportation Secretary and the Florida Department of Transportation.”

The Pride commemoration was first unveiled in June 2021.

The rainbow intersection has been vandalized before. During Pride month in 2023, surveillance video captured a motorcyclist burning out over the mural, leaving black tread marks across it. He then stopped to record the damage he caused.

The Pride erasure comes just days after a coordinated campaign by the Florida governor and the federal Transportation Department to remove rainbow intersections across the state.

On July 1, former Road Rules reality star and current Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy issued a social media edict to all U.S. governors to remove the crosswalk art.

“Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks,” Duffy declared. “Political banners have no place on public roads. I’m reminding recipients of @USDOT roadway funding that it’s limited to features advancing safety, and nothing else. It’s that simple.”

In the order and subsequent interviews, Duffy implies the Pride crosswalks are causing chaos on the roads and have led to traffic fatalities.

“Far too many Americans die each year to traffic fatalities to take our eye off the ball,” Duffy told the far-right Daily Signal.

“Roads are for safety,” he said somewhat incongruously, “not political messages or artwork.”

Duffy didn’t specify what percentage of the 39,345 traffic deaths in the U.S. in 2024 were caused by rainbow crosswalks.

Other cities in South Florida with rainbow intersections, including Delray Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, face the same state and federal mandates. It wasn’t immediately clear whether or how they would comply.

Other Pride crosswalks in the state have also been subject to vandalism, some repeatedly.

Florida Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue enthusiastically endorsed the federal mandate the day after it was issued.

“Florida’s proactive efforts to ensure we keep our transportation facilities free & clear of political ideologies were cemented into law by @GovRonDeSantis,” Perdue posted to socials. “Great to now have our federal partners also aligned behind this same common-sense policy.”

Rand Hoch, president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, called the orders “blackmail”.

“This is just another example of the president and the governor blackmailing local governments by telling them they’re going to withhold funding so they can try to publicly erase the LGBTQ+ community,” he told the Sun-Sentinel. “This seems to be a priority of these administrations.”

Despite the public erasure, Hoch, who was present at the 2021 unveiling of the Boynton Beach Pride intersection, said LGBTQ+ people “are not going to disappear.”