Florida Bans Rainbow Lights on Bridges During Pride Month, Declares “Freedom Summer”

MARTHA ASENCIO-RHINE/AP Photo

In Florida, the rainbow will only have three colors during Pride month this year: red, white, and by-god blue.

Earlier this month, the Sunshine State effectively announced that it was banning the lighting of bridges in rainbow colors during June by annexing the month as part of its so-called “Freedom Summer.” Between May 27 to September 2 this year, bridges from Jacksonville to Miami Beach will only be permitted to display the colors of the traditional American flag.

In an announcement on X, Florida Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue claimed the red, white, and blue lights would demonstrate that, under the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida is “the freest state in the nation.” (Just not free enough to celebrate Pride month however they want, of course.)

“As Floridians prepare for Freedom Summer, Florida's bridges will follow suit, illuminating in red, white, and blue from Memorial Day through Labor Day!” he wrote.

The change in lighting policy likely originated with Manatee County Commission Chairman Mike Rahn, as the Tampa Bay Times reported last week. Earlier this year, Rahn formally objected to rainbow lighting on the Sunshine Skyway, the four-mile bridge that connects St. Petersburg to Tampa Bay. For the past three years, the bridge has been lit in Pride colors for a single week in June. Rahn reportedly also opposed an orange display for National Gun Violence Awareness Day, observed on June 7.

Rahn, however, noted at the time that the choice was not his to make. The decision to light bridges is determined by a majority vote of the commission, and he told the Times that he does not have the “authority to override the governor of the state of Florida.” The DeSantis’ administration’s announcement, though, gave Rahn even more than he’d requested.

The decision has been met with outrage and befuddlement among supporters of the LGBTQ+ community in Florida. Kimberly Allen, CEO of the racial equity group 904Ward, argued that a bridge display—whether for Pride, Juneteenth, or any other occasion—“adds to the vibrancy” of the local community. Allen also said the timing of DeSantis’ announcement, with Pride month just weeks away, is cause for alarm.

“I think the undertones of this are what’s haunting,” Allen told the Washington Post. “Why at this moment, in this month, why is that happening now?”

But the synchronicity is presumably no accident. Just days before last year’s Pride month, DeSantis signed a package of bills making Florida the first state in U.S. history to levy criminal penalties for trans people using bathrooms that correspond with their gender. The legislation also banned public drag performances, outlawed gender-affirming medical care for trans minors, and severely restricted adult access to necessary transition treatments by cracking down on telehealth services.

Prior to those moves, DeSantis signed bills into law limiting the ability of trans students to play on sports teams in alignment with their gender and prohibiting teachers from discussing LGBTQ+ subjects in K-3 classrooms. After the scope of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill was expanded through the end of high school, the statute was effectively nullified as part of a court settlement earlier this year.

And now, after attacking LGBTQ+ rights again and again, that spirit of repression has even hit color theory — arguably one of the least sunshine-y things a politician can do. But Florida’s queer community vowed that they would keep June bright, even if their state won’t.

“The bridge lights were about celebrating diversity and inclusion, which will continue to happen in our communities,” said Carlos Guillermo Smith, senior policy adviser at Equality Florida, in a statement to the Post this week. “LGBTQ Floridians will proudly raise our flags even higher and our lights will only shine brighter in the darkness they’ve created.”

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Originally Appeared on them.