The woke crowd thought they could outlast Ron DeSantis.
They were dead wrong.
And Ron DeSantis used one simple strategy to remove the Miami Beach rainbow crosswalk that left drag queens sobbing.
DeSantis gets serious about cleaning up Florida’s streets
Florida’s streets are supposed to be for cars, not political messaging – and Governor Ron DeSantis just reminded everyone who’s actually in charge.
The rainbow crosswalk on Miami Beach’s famous Ocean Drive got torn up brick by brick on Sunday, and the reaction from the Left was exactly what you’d expect.
Drag queens showed up to watch work crews dismantle their precious "pride" display, and the waterworks started immediately.
"Our pride is getting erased just like that," sobbed CC Glitzer, one of the performers who gathered to witness the destruction of their beloved street art. "It’s very painful."
Another drag performer named TP Lourdes got even more dramatic, claiming the crosswalk represented "blood, sweat, and tears" and that it "tears my heart to see it go."
https://twitter.com/youmadbroDGTL/status/1975971356627136519
But here’s what these professional victims don’t want you to understand – DeSantis didn’t target this crosswalk because he hates anyone.
He targeted it because Florida’s Department of Transportation under his leadership decided that streets should actually be used for their intended purpose.
"I think the street art got out of hand," DeSantis explained previously. "I think it’s much better that we use crosswalks and streets for their intended purpose."
The governor’s team identified over 400 locations statewide where political messaging had taken over public infrastructure that taxpayers fund for transportation, not virtue signaling.
Miami Beach officials tried every trick in the book to save their woke crosswalk
Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez and his fellow Democrats on the city commission thought they were smarter than the state of Florida.
They appealed the removal order and even tried to rename the street "Pride Street" to make the crosswalk more permanent.
The strategy backfired spectacularly.
The state rejected their appeal just two days before the Florida Department of Transportation showed up with work crews and heavy equipment.
Fernandez whined to reporters about losing "something safe, beautiful, iconic, and embraced by everyone" – but apparently not everyone in the Florida government agreed with that assessment.
The commissioner tried to play the victim card, claiming the crosswalk represented "decades of people who endured housing discrimination, expulsion from the military, workplace discrimination, the stigma of HIV and AIDS, the fight for marriage equality."
But DeSantis wasn’t buying the emotional manipulation.
His administration threatened to cut off state transportation funding to any community that refused to comply with the street art removal order.
That’s when Miami Beach’s tough talk turned into quiet compliance – because even woke commissioners know better than to mess with Florida’s budget leverage.
The real strategy behind DeSantis’ crosswalk crackdown reveals his political genius
Look, here’s what’s really happening with this crosswalk controversy that the mainstream media won’t tell you.
DeSantis isn’t just cleaning up street art – he’s teaching Democrat-run cities a lesson about who actually controls the purse strings in Florida.
The governor’s team followed federal guidelines that require intersections and crosswalks to be "kept free from distractions," including "political messages of any nature."
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued that directive back in July, giving DeSantis the perfect cover to clean house across Florida.
And get this – the removals weren’t even partisan.
DeSantis’ crews also painted over a "Back the Blue" mural outside the Tampa police headquarters, proving this was about policy consistency, not culture war targeting.
The timing couldn’t have been more strategic.
By waiting until after the appeal process played out, DeSantis avoided looking like he was rushing to judgment while still getting the job done efficiently.
Miami Beach officials collected the removed paving stones to "repurpose" them later, but that’s just face-saving nonsense.
The real message got delivered loud and clear: Florida’s streets belong to Florida taxpayers, not political activists who want to turn public infrastructure into their personal billboard space.
For conservatives who’ve watched woke ideology creep into every corner of American life, DeSantis just showed how to push back effectively.
You don’t argue with the activists – you just enforce the rules and let them cry about it on camera.
¹ Carlos Garcia, "Drag queens outraged after rainbow crosswalk is obliterated by Gov. DeSantis: ‘Our pride is being erased’," The Blaze, October 8, 2025.
² David Fischer, "Florida removes Miami Beach rainbow crosswalk after city loses appeal," Associated Press, October 6, 2025.
³ Hunter Geisel, "FDOT arrives in Miami Beach to prepare for removal of rainbow crosswalk on Ocean Drive," CBS Miami, October 5, 2025.
⁴ CNN Newsource, "FDOT removes Miami Beach rainbow crosswalk," WSVN, October 6, 2025.
⁵ Katie Hawkinson, "Miami Beach becomes latest Florida city to see rainbow crosswalk removed, angering LGBT community," The Independent, October 6, 2025.
