(Photo by Bellanee Plaza)
ORLANDO | Over 100 protesters gathered at the interim Pulse memorial Aug. 21 after the Florida Department of Transportation removed its nearby rainbow crosswalk.
The crosswalk was installed on West Esther St. off South Orange Ave. in the aftermath of the tragedy. It was expected to become a part of the permanent Pulse memorial.
Chants could be heard from the protesters and cars that drove by honked to show support. A double rainbow appeared at the beginning of the protest and attendees cheered.
Equality Florida organized the impromptu protest after the public found out about the removal of the crosswalk.
Orlando Commissioner Patty Sheehan, who represents District 4 where Pulse is located, told Watermark Out News that Mayor Buddy Dyer‘s office alerted her that the crosswalk had been repainted. She was subsequently joined at the protest by state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, state Rep. Anna Eskamani and U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost.
Protesters used chalk to recolor the crosswalk in rainbow colors during the protest. It took them less than five minutes to fully chalk the road.
Smith called the removal of the rainbow crosswalk an insult to families and survivors of the Pulse shooting.
“And even if the state gets their way with this rainbow crosswalk, I will tell you right now somewhere near by, sometime very soon, there will be mural painted on a fixture or a wall, building or parking garage,” Smith said to the crowd. “It will be bigger, it will be more queer and it will be more colorful than they every imagined because we will not be erased.”
Watermark Out News attended the protest and you can view our photos below. Additional coverage will follow.
Photos by Bellanee Plaza.
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