Florida directive for bridge lighting is latest in battle over Pride and other symbols

Amy Glassman swung into action when the state ordered a halt to rainbow Pride lights on the Acosta Bridge after they shined for the first time in 2021.

Glassman helped organize a protest march that brought hundreds of people to the downtown Jacksonville bridge in support of Pride lights. By then, the state Department of Transportation had decided the rainbow lights could return.

Even after rainbow lights celebrating the LGBTQ community lit up the Acosta again in June of 2022 and 2023, Glassman and other supporters kept marching over the bridge during Pride month because they didn't take for granted the lights would continue.

That apprehension turned into reality when the state Department of Transportation announced that this summer, decorative lighting on state-owned bridges will be red, white and blue starting Monday on Memorial Day through Labor Day. The directive means Pride Lights won't shine on the Acosta Bridge, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay and the Ringling Bridge in Sarasota.

"I'm frustrated," Glassman said. "I'm hurt. I feel like a politician in Tallahassee shouldn't make me feel unwelcome in my own hometown."

The change in what people have come to expect to see on those three landmark bridges is the latest case of the cultural battle over Pride colors on government property in Florida. It also highlights again the politics of lighting displays during Gov. Ron DeSantis's time as governor and who gets to control the messages communicated by the lights, whether they're illuminating the state's bridges or the Historic Capitol in Tallahassee.

Jacksonville City Council member Jimmy Peluso said the state's decision on bridge lighting is a heavy-handed attack on what people in Jacksonville want. He noted that in addition to stopping the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, which owns the lighting system, from turning on the rainbow lights, the decision also will prevent a return of the red, black and green lights celebrating Juneteenth and the end of slavery.

"It's a real slap in the face to multiple different communities, especially when people claim that it's a patriotic thing or that they care about freedom," Peluso said. "Juneteenth is the day we literally celebrate freedom so it's a fascinating way to spin something that truly is about attacking certain groups that some folks in our government don't seem to like."

But Manatee County Commission Chairman Mike Rahn said the decision on lighting should be up to state officials because the state owns the bridges. Rahn's opposition to lighting the Sunshine Skyway Bridge for Pride month and for National Gun Violence Awareness Day put in motion the transportation department's decision to go strictly with red, white and blue lights.

"My concern is if we're going to do it for one group, we have to do it for all groups, no matter what their political stance is," Rahn said. "I feel, personally, that the bridge is being politicized by different organizations."

Pride lights controversy highlights divide between state and cities

University of North Florida political science professor Michael Binder said the political battle over bridge lights is unfortunate but not surprising when displays such as Pride lights split supporters and opponents.

"Obviously, it's a symbolic gesture to have lights of anything, and the Pride lights and the Pride flag and Pride month has been a really political issue and exceptionally divisive," he said.

That divide is bigger at the state level than it generally is in Florida cities. The Human Rights Campaign has given perfect scores to Tampa and St. Petersburg as the best places for LGBTQ people to live. Jacksonville scored 76 out of 100 but its politics have been changing in recent years. Mayor Donna Deegan became the first mayor to attend the Jax River City Pride Parade when she was its grand marshal last year.

"If we had a bunch of Republican cities, it wouldn't be an issue," Binder said. "But you're also seeing this play out as Tallahassee centralizes more power and continually chips away at home rule and the ability of locals to control almost anything in their jurisdiction."

The Sunshine Skyway bridge, Ringling Bridge and Acosta Bridge are such high-visibility bridges that local residents who regularly travel them might feel a sense of civic ownership. But the state Department of Transportation is the legal owner of the bridges.

In 2021, the transportation department initially denied requests for marking Pride month on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and Ringling Bridge. The department also ordered the Jacksonville Transportation Authority to turn off the Pride lights on the Acosta Bridge because the state hadn't approved that combination of lighting for it.

The state reversed its halt to lighting the Acosta Bridge and ended up allowing Pride lighting on all three bridges in June of 2021, 2022 and 2023.

But the rainbow flag that symbolizes pride in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community was back in the legislative fray in this year's session when a bill attempted to ban cities from flying flags that express a "political viewpoint" on matters that include "racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology."

Critics of the bill said it was trying to ban the Pride flag. The bill died in committee, despite support from the Republican Party of Florida that called for "ending rainbow flags on government buildings."

Gun violence awareness sparks disputes for bridges and Historic Capital

The lighting of the state Capital also has fueled controversy. Moms Demand Action, a nonprofit that advocates gun control, said in June 2021 that a request by then-agriculture commission Nikki Fried to light the Historic Capitol building in orange on National Gun Violence Awareness Day was ignored by the state Department of Management Services.

The Department of Management Services subsequently made a rule change that says only the governor can direct the department to light the Historic Capitol in support of a cause, event or holiday.

National Gun Violence Awareness Day has been recognized by orange lights on state bridges. Rahn objected to the Sunshine Skyway bridge being lit up for it and for Pride this year, according to a Tampa Bay Times report.

The Skyway bridge is tied into Pinellas, Hillsborough and Manatee counties so the state's policy has been that all three county commissions must support lighting requests. Rahn said Manatee County is "out of the business of lighting the bridge."

"This is an FDOT matter," he told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. "My point is, I don't own the bridge, I can't open the bridge, I can't shut down the bridge, I get no revenue from the bridge. Why is it my responsibility to light the bridge?"

The Acosta Bridge and Ringling Bridge haven't faced that same opposition. The Sarasota City Commission voted in December for the Ringling Bridge's light schedule. Some will still happen because the commission chose red, white and blue for lights on Memorial Day, Juneteenth and Independence Day.

But the Ringling Bridge won't be lit in rainbow colors for Pride or in orange for National Gun Violence Awareness. Other summer lighting displays for World Fragile X Day, Women's Equality Day and National Recovery Month also won't happen.

After the transportation department said in 2022 the city of Jacksonville needed to go on record with its position so the bridge lighting, City Council voted 16-1 on dozens of authorized color combinations for holidays, disease awareness campaigns, sports team recognitions, event promotions, and recognitions of causes that have "broad community support."

State Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue replaced that policy for the summer when he announced the red, white and blue lighting in a May 8 post on X.

"As Floridians prepare for Freedom Summer, Florida's bridges will follow suit, illuminating in red, white, and blue from Memorial Day through Labor Day!" Perdue wrote. "Thanks to the leadership of (Gov. DeSantis), Florida continues to be the freest state in the nation."

That announcement referred to a message posted by DeSantis about the "Summer of Freedom" built around the state waiving admission charges for Florida families to state parks on Memorial Day weekend and lifting the sales tax in July on numerous outdoor recreation supplies.

Last summer, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority lit the Acosta Bridge for Memorial Day, Independence Day, Juneteenth, Pride month, and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp homestands. Memorial Day and Independence Day were the only two of those that used the red, white and blue lighting.

"The JTA joins FDOT Secretary Perdue in recognizing Memorial Day to Labor day as Florida’s Freedom Summer," authority spokesman Anthony Junco said. "During this period, the Acosta State Bridge will be lit red, white and blue."

Pride lighting supporters say they'll do their own light show on bridge

Binder predicts the state will use the same approach next summer, even if it means other observances besides Pride are "kind of getting washed out with all of this."

"I think this was a case of hey, let's get this year under our books and next year, it's easier to do it because it's like standard operating procedure," he said.

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Jacksonville resident Katie Hathaway, an active volunteer in Moms Demand Action, said she supports the red, white and blue lighting but not at the exclusion of everything else. She said when the Acosta Bridge was orange for National Gun Violence Awareness Day in 2021 and 2022, that wasn't a political statement.

"The first year that we had it lit orange, I cried because a small gesture like that goes such a long way in our community, and it breaks my heart thinking we can't stop for a second and recognize the survivors of the lives lost in Jacksonville," she said.

Glassman said organizers of this year's Pride march on the Acosta Bridge, tentatively set for June 29, are working on a plan to do it in the evening so marchers can use cell phone apps, glowsticks or other equipment so there "will be rainbows on the Acosta bridge each June, lights or no lights."

She said it will show that regardless of state policies, LGBTQ residents are welcome in Jacksonville.

"This wasn't something I thought was over by a long shot, but we've continued showing up every year for that reason to show we're in this fight, too," she said.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida replaces Pride lighting with red, white and blue on bridges