The current Governor of Florida and the current occupant of the White House are running out of time, albeit not fast enough. Florida will be rid of DeSantis in January 2027, as his term cannot be renewed. One of his ‘achievements’ was last August, when IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT he had workmen paint over the memorial rainbow crosswalk in Orlando outside the Pulse nightclub where 49 people were gunned down in a massacre.  The incident still has Florida residents (like Queerguru)  and the whole LGBTQA+ global community seething with anger.

State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat from Orlando, called the overnight removal work a cowardly act.  “They did this in the middle of the night because they were scared of the resistance, because they know what they did was wrong,” said Smith, who is openly gay.  Our reactions were unprintable.

For the desperately homophobic (would-be Trump) DeSantis, this was just a part of a major, violently anti-LGBTQ campaign in which he literally threatened and blackmailed other cities. He had the state transportation agency notify cities around Florida that they must remove rainbow-colored crosswalks and intersections, or they could face withheld transportation funds. Among the cities notified were Delray Beach, Key West and St. Petersburg. Earlier this week, St. Petersburg officials asked for an exemption for five street art installations, saying they create a strong sense of community. They include a rainbow-colored intersection, a Black Lives Matter mural and a University of South Florida-themed crosswalk.

Meanwhile, there is ‘good news’ coming out of Orlando recently when city commissioners approved the master plan for the Pulse memorial on Monday, moving the project forward at the site of the demolished nightclub on Orange Avenue. The plan includes a visitor building, a small structure for private gatherings and parking. It also calls for a memorial, healing garden and reflection pool.