Key West Cancels Arch Due To DeSantis’s DEI Law

The Key West Business Guild writes:

The City Attorney has now confirmed what many feared and sadly what we anticipated: Florida’s new Senate Bill 1134 effectively ended the Rainbow Arch project before it could even begin.

According to the City’s legal opinion, the Rainbow Art project cannot lawfully proceed because its purpose was to celebrate diversity, inclusion, and the freedom of LGBTQ+ people to live openly and authentically.

The attorney concluded that even if the arch had been completed before the law takes effect on January 1, 2027, it would still be subject to the statute because it would require ongoing City ownership, maintenance, and support.

Let’s be clear about what this means. The Rainbow Art project was not canceled because of a lack of community support. It was not canceled due to a lack of funding. It was not canceled because the project was flawed. It was canceled because a new state law targets initiatives associated with diversity, equity, inclusion, and LGBTQ+ visibility.

For years, the Rainbow Crosswalk and the proposed Rainbow Arch Project represented something bigger than paint, steel, or public art. They were symbols that told LGBTQ+ residents, visitors, families, and young people that they belong here. That they are welcome here. That they are part of the fabric of our community.

The removal of the Rainbow Crosswalk and the cancellation of the Rainbow Art project send a message. But so does our response. No law can erase the people these symbols represented.

No statute can eliminate the diversity that exists in our community. And no political movement can change the fact that LGBTQ+ people have always been here, will continue to be here, and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Read the full statement. The arch was to have spanned a downtown street near several popular gay bars.

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