A 29-year-old man has been released from jail after being arrested for rubbing chalk on his shoe as part of a protest against Florida’s crackdown on rainbow crosswalks.

On Friday night, Orestes Sebastian Suarez and his wife visited the Orlando crosswalk that, until recently, was painted rainbow to honor the victims of the Pulse nightclub tragedy. State officials painted over the memorial in accordance with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) new anti-street art rules, which led protestors to continue restoring the rainbow with chalk.

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The site has been monitored by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) and now includes signs declaring, “No Impeding Traffic” and “Defacing Roadway Prohibited.”

In the wake of the new restrictions on even chalking the area, Suarez reportedly attempted a workaround, rubbing chalk on his shoe and then walking across the crosswalk. FHP arrested him for interfering with a traffic control device.

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“We put some chalk down on the ground, and before we knew it, officers were approaching us, saying, hey, we want to talk to you,” Suarez told WESH. “I came, I identified myself, tried to do everything the correct way, and before I knew it, I was in the back of a squad car.”

The following day, a judge released him without charges after finding no probable cause. He then returned triumphantly to the crosswalk, where he danced and clapped his away cross in the rain as folks around him cheered.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has now painted over the Orlando crosswalk twice. The first time, the department did so in the dead of night without notifying city officials after repeatedly ordering municipalities across the state to remove their Pride intersections or face financial consequences.

FDOT returned to paint over it again and began monitoring the site after protestors repainted it.

But protestors have continued to return with chalk as police and highway patrol vehicles surveil.

Robby Dodd, who lost friends in the Pulse tragedy, showed up to chalk last Sunday morning and called the police presence “ridiculous.”

“It feels weird because there could be anything else they could be doing right now other than watching us color. I mean, it’s chalk, it’ll wash away, and we understand that too, but meanwhile, taxpayer dollars are putting state troopers and OPD out here.”

In July, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy urged governors to remove any political messages, artwork, and markings on intersections not directly related to pedestrian or driver safety. He wrote on social media, “Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks.”

GOP officials claim the crosswalks distract drivers, but data says otherwise.

The Bloomberg Philanthropies 2022 Asphalt Art Safety Study found that crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists drop 50% at painted intersections.

It also reported a 25% decrease in conflicts between drivers and pedestrians, a 27% increase in drivers immediately yielding to pedestrians, and a 38% decrease in pedestrians crossing when the walk signal was not lit at intersections involving public art. The data also revealed that injuries resulting from crashes drop 37% in painted intersections.  

Nevertheless, cities across Florida are grappling with the mounting pressure to remove their Pride crosswalks amid a new anti-street art law recently signed by Gov. DeSantis. Some have complied while others have expressed their determination to resist.

Last week, DeSantis slammed the cities that are pushing back on his mandates, accusing them of virtue signalling. He declared during a press conference, “We’re not doing the commandeering of the roads to put up messaging.”

While the Pride intersections are no doubt the motivation for the new no street art policy from the anti-LGBTQ+ DeSantis administration, the state is implementing the law across the board, presumably with the goal of making it appear not to target LGBTQ+ people.

Officials are forcing municipalities to remove street murals expressing support for everything from racial justice to police forces. Some of the reported 400 murals on the list to be removed are also merely art pieces with no underlying message, including one outside a school in Tallahassee, created by students.

At the same press conference, state Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue made clear that prior approval for street art by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is no longer relevant now that DeSantis has signed a law forbidding it.

“Pavement art is not allowed and we’re removing everything that’s not compliant with state/federal standards and that’s the approach that we’re taking,” Perdue said.

“Let’s be honest. We all know this is not about traffic safety. This is political,” said Delray Beach Vice Mayor Rob Long during a commission meeting. “It’s part of the same culture war climate where symbols of inclusion are targeted precisely because they represent acceptance. It’s about erasing the visibility of our LGBTQ+ people at the same time when their rights are again under direct threat.”

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