The Miami Beach City Commission has filed a last-minute request for an administrative hearing with the Florida Department of Transportation to contest the state’s order to remove rainbow crosswalks.
With a Sept. 4 deadline looming to scrub the crosswalk on Ocean Drive or face funding cuts, the city is joining other municipalities in South Florida resisting the state mandate.
State transportation officials argue the crosswalks distract drivers, but specifically mentioned “art that is associated with social, political, or ideological messages.”
The announcement was made Wednesday morning at a city commission meeting, where activists and residents expressed anger and opposition to the state action.
“To threaten cities, really important transportation projects, to threaten effectively to make traffic worse, to make cities less resilient to hurricanes if they don’t comply with [Gov. Ron DeSantis’] campaign against LGBTQ visibility and community is egregious, and cities like Miami Beach are stepping up,” Equality Florida Senior Policy Director Joe Saunders told WLRN. Equality Florida is the state’s largest LGBTQ+ rights group.
READ MORE: Miami Beach commissioner slams state for demanding removal of Ocean Drive 'rainbow' crosswalk
The future of the crosswalk ahead of the state hearing remains to be seen. Delray Beach officials met Tuesday at a hearing moderated by an FDOT engineer and were not allowed to present supplementary evidence like collision data.
Delray Beach now has until Friday to present its final argument. Key West has its hearing Wednesday, and their commission will meet later Wednesday evening with a proposed resolution to protect the crosswalks on Duval and Petronia streets. The Fort Lauderdale commission voted unanimously last week to file an administrative appeal.
Those who attended Tuesday’s meeting in Miami Beach believed it was important to continue resisting the mandate.
“I’m just making sure that everyone knows that it’s really important that the community has their voice heard,” SAVE Director of Advocacy and Communications Miles Davis told WLRN. “The fact that the state is using their strong oversight muscles to really bully the city of Miami Beach, it’s just not right.” SAVE is an LGBTQ+ rights group based in South Florida.
No state hearing date has been scheduled for Miami Beach.
