Florida state officials are blocking cities from lighting local bridges in rainbow colors for Pride

[left-of-center2012]

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has ordered the city of Jacksonville to stop lighting the Acosta Bridge in rainbow colors to celebrate Pride Month. The display was supposed to last for a week before FDOT pulled the plug.

The department also refused a request to light Sarasota’s John Ringling Causeway Bridge last week. The Acosta Bridge is regularly lit up with color to honor sports teams, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and other notable events or holidays – as is Sarasota’s bridge.

“This afternoon the FDOT informed the JTA that our scheduled color scheme for the Acosta Bridge is out of compliance with the existing permit. The JTA must comply accordingly,” according to a statement from the Jacksonville Transportation Authority released Tuesday night.

The same day the permit was denied, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed legislation to ban transgender girls from playing school sports.
The next day he slashed funding for LGBTQ issues from the state budget.

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/06/florida-state-officials-blocking-cities-lighting-local-bridges-rainbow-colors-pride/

[sop]

1. Scum

[TheBlackAdder]

2. Those bridges look really nice lit up that way.

[sop]

5. No, can't have it, might turn the bridges gay.

[sdfernando]

3. I really hate Florida

unfortunately I have to travel to Orlando for work several times a year. I try to spend as little as possible while there.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. Let's see, first it was the voting rights for millions of minorities in FL, and no one said

anything, then it was the estimated 9 transgender athletes in the whole USA, that the state of FL had to act on (the legislators and governor had to pass something) and no one said anything, and now it's the gays and lesbians and not allowing cities to support PRIDE celebrations across the state of FL. Who's next?

By the way, I do want to call out to my friends in FL and others, to commend them in fighting these despicable and oppressive actions in FL, Georgia, and other states that the republicans are passing. They were temporarily successful in TX.

I'd like to see President Biden move more aggressively in the People's Voting Rights bill, and other actions also. Senator Manchin needs to be called out too. Some are already working w/ him to change his mind. How many more restrictive voting measurements need to be passed by republicans before Manchin changes his mind (if ever)? Instead of Pres. Biden trying to get measures passed jointly, do it unilaterally and let the republicans if they are united (and it does not look like they are) fight the passed bills then.

The rights of many local communities are being overruled by bigoted state actions. What else do you call it?

You would think by now, with a recent example where democrats won in one state, the restrictions that republicans put in place actually led to the republicans' loss of that / those seats (the voting restrictions hurt their own voters too, I can't recall the particular state, perhaps Idaho?)...

When will the US Supreme Court again recognizes the words 'We the people'???

[Eugene]

6. Jacksonville: After controversial removal, Acosta Bridge's rainbow Pride lights will be back on toni

Source: Florida Times-Union

After controversial removal, Acosta Bridge's rainbow Pride lights will be back on tonight

Katherine Lewin
Florida Times-Union
Published 10:40 a.m. ET Jun. 9, 2021 | Updated 11:36 a.m. ET Jun. 9, 2021

The colors of the Pride flag will shine from the Acosta Bridge tonight, according to the governor's office, after the Florida Department of Transportation unceremoniously ordered the removal of the rainbow lighting from the bridge yesterday.

"The bottom line is, lights will be back up tonight," said Taryn Fenske, spokeswoman for Gov. Ron DeSantis' office.

She says she does not know who actually turned the lights off or what happened behind-the-scenes with the last-minute cancellation of the lights.

By late Tuesday, the bridge was lit up in blue instead of the scheduled multi-colored display. The Pride lights were intended to glow all week in honor of Pride Month, which remembers the June 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City when patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn tavern staged an uprising to resist police harassment and persecution of gays.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2021/06/09/acosta-bridge-pride-lights-back-tonight-fdot-controversial/7617599002/