This story was originally published by Miami New Times and is republished by WLRN as part of a content-sharing partnership between the two news organizations.
“I think if you are an artist, you are innately an activist,” Eric Swanson — better known as drag queen Ms. Bouvèé — told the Miami New Times in his kitchen on a rainy Thursday afternoon.
“My activism right now just happens to be 50 bricks from Miami Beach.”
It’s been over a year since Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Transportation outlawed “dangerously distracting” on-street murals and rainbow crosswalks. City officials and protestors across Miami tried to fight back, but the new rule didn’t change.
But when road crews dismantled beloved installations across the state, Swanson didn’t give up.
Thanks to him, some of the pavers are now getting a second life — and raising over $26,000 for South Florida Pride celebrations.
Who is Ms. Bouvèé?
When asked about drag, Swanson says he “sort of fell into it” in March 2020, while trying to find his place in the performing arts. Six years later, he makes a living as Ms. Bouvèé, performing on cruises and at venues from South Florida to Las Vegas.
For him, performance is intertwined with activism and community.
“Art teaches you there is space for everybody to live and breathe together,” he says.
READ MORE: A symbol restored in Miami Beach: City officials unveil the Rainbow Crosswalk’s new home
“If you go to a Broadway show or a theater production, everybody’s sitting quietly and listening to the same story. You don’t know if the person you’re sitting next to is ultra conservative or a total lib; for a moment, that doesn’t matter. We see that we all love, and cry, and grieve, and laugh.”
Swanson says it opens the door to empathy.
“We understand that we don’t have to erase someone to make ourselves more visible — but I think that’s the government’s approach,” he says, citing attacks on drag queens, whom some state legislators believe are “evil“.
“Their eye is on the wrong target,” Swanson says. “I always say, so far what we know is not in the Epstein files is drag queens.”
Hitting the bricks
Swanson had been performing for years when, in August 2025, FDOT outlawed painted crosswalks and all other on-street murals. It happened overnight, Swanson says, and it felt like it was about more than just the roads.
“I think what was scariest about this was that we saw cities lose their rights to govern their own people,” Swanson says. “They took away due process; they took away the cities’ rights to manage their own streets. That starts somewhere, and it ends somewhere else.”
Swanson — in full drag despite the summer heat — took part in protests against the state’s action, but the demonstrations didn’t stop officials from removing the artwork in Miami Beach or elsewhere in Florida.
Then, there was another opportunity.
A friend told Swanson that some of the bricks from South Beach’s iconic Ocean Drive were up for public auction. He placed a bid — and won.
Swanson says he thought he could repurpose the bricks as part of his annual campaigns to raise money for LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations in Key West and Naples.
Swanson washed and repainted the bricks, then added a plaque memorializing where each one had been. The story was picked up by queer news outlets and local TV networks, garnering interested buyers from across the world.
Four days after he launched the campaign, he had sold all 50 bricks.
“People got so excited about holding a piece of our history, because it’s not the first time we’ve used bricks for a protest,” Swanson says.
“I just love that they’ll have this life all over the nation.”
Fight isn’t over
The Miami Beach bricks fundraiser brought in $26,500 for the two cities’ Pride celebrations.
Swanson says the donations will help provide a live entertainment stage and cover security services for the events — both of which have been threatened by shrinking funding and growing safety concerns.
But, as widespread cuts hit organizations aimed at elevating disadvantaged communities, Swanson says this isn’t his last fundraising project, and he hopes other performers will follow suit.
“I hope it inspires other drag queens to be innovative, to think about how you can be just as creative as you are with your art form, look what you can do to save your Prides. Because we’re all going to need the help coming up.”
