Around 100 members of Gainesville’s LGBTQ+ community and its supporters marched from City Hall to The Hippodrome Theatre on Friday evening to protest the impending removal of the city’s three rainbow crosswalks.
The Pride Community Center of North Central Florida (PCCNCF) organized the “Rally for Rainbow Visibility” after the Gainesville City Commission unanimously voted to remove the crosswalks last week.
The vote aimed to comply with Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) standards stating that traffic control devices, including pavement surface markings, must be removed, or else the city could lose funding.
The markings apply to the rainbow crosswalks, as well as some bike lane markings.
Protestors on Friday of all ages waved rainbow pride flags and donned T-shirts with sayings such as “Can’t drag us down” as they marched across the rainbow crosswalks downtown. Cheers filled the streets once the crowd reached a brick one in front of the Hippodrome.
“Gainesville pride is bigger than paint on pavement,” PCCNCF President Donn Smith-Lopez said to the crowd. “Gainesville pride lives in all of you. It lives in our voices. It lives in the relentless drive to stand proudly, just like we are here today, and to move forward.”
Local elected officials, Mayor Harvey Ward, Gainesville City Commissioner Casey Willits and Alachua County Commissioner Mary Alford marched alongside the protestors.
Ward said even though the city can’t be forceful in its opposition to the state’s standards, it can be like water by going around the “dam” and finding a new way to support its LGBTQ+ community without the crosswalks.
He said they’ll have to “undermine the foolishness” until the right people are elected.
“I appreciate those of you who are pissed off because, guess what? I’m also pissed off,” he said. “The city of Gainesville has no variation in our commitment to the LGBTQ+ community. We will continue to be supportive. I will continue to be supportive. We are not leaving this fight.”
Alford shared that the rainbow crosswalks held a personal connection for her as former PCCNCF President Terry Flemming, who worked to get the crosswalks in Gainesville, was the one who convinced her to run for office.
She said that every day when she crosses the crosswalks to get to her office, she’s reminded of her commitment to the community.
“I’m going to miss them so much,” Alford said. “But every time I cross that street, I’m not going to forget that they’re there, I’m not going to forget why they’re gone, and I’m going to be looking for all the other rainbows and all the other smiles of all of you as we continue to find another way to fight this fight.”
Citizen Dana Sheffield marched during the protest. She said even though she didn’t live in Gainesville when the rainbow crosswalks were installed, she felt that everyone deserves to be who they want to be, and the crosswalks express that they can.
“I have family who identify as gay and I want all people to be valued for who they are,” she said.
Nikki Herbst and Diane DePuydt marched together. Herbst said she marched because she doesn’t believe in erasure and DePuydt said if other rainbow art showed up around town to replace the crosswalks, it would be a good act of civil disobedience.
“When you have congress people and elected representatives who don’t listen, it’s all about power,” DePuydt said. “So what are you going to do? Protest. It seems minor on the outside, but we have to do something.”
Ward told Mainstreet the rainbow crosswalks were fully funded by the PCCNCF when they were installed in 2019. He said they fit in with how other communities across the country created similar street art in response to the political atmosphere.
Ward also said that the painted pavement is safer for pedestrians and cyclists because it makes drivers slow down and can be an economic driver for the city because people visit to take photos at the crosswalks.
“It was just a really joyful process,” Ward said on working with Fleming to get the crosswalks. “It helped me understand what a cool community we have. And people complain about everything, but they didn’t really complain about this. It was just something really well-loved and free to the city.”
Ward said even though the FDOT’s memorandum to remove the street art was disappointing, he didn’t find it surprising. He said he didn’t believe it was a road safety issue and was likely intended to divide the community.
Even though the city doesn’t have a timeline on when the rainbow crosswalks or bike lane markings will be removed, Ward said staff are working to have plans for what’s next by October.
“We’re not going to stop being Gainesville because it makes somebody somewhere else uncomfortable,” he said. “We will always comply with Florida statute, with federal statute. But what this has done is ignite the community again, not only members of the LGBTQ+ community itself, but allies and friends to find ways to celebrate everybody who lives here.”