Fort Lauderdale Defies DeSantis With “Circle Of Love”

Fort Lauderdale’s CBS affiliate reports:

The city of Fort Lauderdale is ending its fight with the state of Florida over its street art, officials said Saturday, instead announcing a “Circle Of Love” rainbow installation as part of an alternative solution on private land. The circle was installed next to Sebastian Street Beach, a popular LGBTQ beach, as part of an agreement between the city and the developer of the property, Mayor Dean Trantalis said at a news conference Saturday.

He was joined by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, commissioners Steve Glassman and Ben Sorensen, the developer, Bob Vail, as well as local residents and members of state and local LGBTQ advocacy organizations, who celebrated the new installation as a symbol of the city’s commitment to diversity and to its large LGBTQ community.

But the installation also signifies the removal of the rest of the city’s colorful street art, including the large rainbow flag by Sebastian Street Beach, as Fort Lauderdale seeks to settle its ongoing legal battles with the state. Fort Lauderdale was the last remaining city to resist the Florida Department of Transportation’s efforts to remove rainbow crosswalks and other decorative street art throughout the state.

Read the full article.

Fort Lauderdale’s mayor is openly gay. See the city’s Instagram slideshow below. Other Florida cities have created workarounds such as rainbow-striped city hall steps, rainbow-bricked sidewalks, and rainbow-painted bike racks.

In related news, yesterday Wilton Manors held what was likely its last (for now) publicly-supported Pride festival as a new law to take effect in January bans local governments from funding, promoting, or endorsing LGBTQ events. Attendance was estimated at around 50,000 despite intermittent rain. Video below.

“The city of Fort Lauderdale is ending its fight with the state of Florida over its street art, officials said Saturday, instead announcing a ‘circle of love’ rainbow installation as part of an alternative solution on private land.”

“Free Florida” manages to pummel another city into submission.

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— SFDB (@sfdb.bsky.social) June 20, 2026 at 3:38 PM

 

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