For three nights of Winter Pride St. Pete — a February event celebrating LGBTQ+ pride in St. Petersburg, Florida — residents could look up and see rainbow lasers dancing across the sky.
It was a display of color visible for 60 miles.
And it’s just one way LGBTQ+ and allied residents are pushing back against what they call an effort to erase cultural art installations.
It all started in August 2025, when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ordered the removal of about 400 “non-standard” pieces of street art — most of them rainbow, Pride-themed crosswalks and murals — even though they all received state approval when they were initially installed.
This order was accompanied by the DeSantis administration painting over a rainbow-colored crosswalk outside of what used to be Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting.
In response, community members repainted the tribute themselves, and many other municipalities around the state resisted the removal of colorful crosswalks and other street installations.
Still, some cities complied with removal orders so as not to lose state funding, but have fought back in their own, creative ways. In December, St. Petersburg debuted a row of Pride-colored bike racks.
“These murals are more than art — they reflect the soul of our community. That message can't be erased. This is our city, our voice, and our story,” the city shared in a social media post before a number of Pride and Black Lives Matter murals and crosswalks were removed.
“Together, we’ll continue building a community that is resilient, inclusive, and united.”
Some cities, like Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Orlando, Miami Beach, and West Palm Beach, voted to defy the ban and are challenging the mandate through legal action and ongoing protests.
But St. Pete is continuing its creative acts of resistance, most recently with the rainbow laser display, which was visible over the weekend for Winter Pride St. Pete.
The 60-mile rainbow laser installation is called “Global Rainbow” and was designed by laser artist Yvette Mattern, who first debuted the light show in New York in 2009. Bringing it to St. Pete, she worked with certified technicians and received FAA clearance to broadcast the colorful beams towards the city’s beaches.
“I am so proud to be able to do this where that rainbow crosswalk was taken away,” Mattern told Fox 13 News.
“It’s a remarkable moment, we have an opportunity to bring this rainbow to the skies of St. Pete,” Winter Pride St. Pete executive director Rob Hall added to Fox 13.
Hall moved to St. Pete as an adult, after just coming out, and he knew the city would be safe and accepting. (In 2025, St. Petersburg was given a perfect score on the 2025 Human Rights Campaign's annual Municipal Equality Index. This is the only nationwide assessment of LGBTQ+ inclusion in municipal law, policy, and services.)
“When I got to St. Pete, seeing that crosswalk, it was life-changing,” he said. “When it was removed, it had a significant impact on my heart.”
While the light display was only a temporary installation, it represented something special to residents still grieving the removal of other public art pieces.
“Now we need to find things and ways to show our community, no matter who you are … visiting, local, where you’re from, that this is a safe space,” Hall told Bay News 9.
“The rainbow is like sacred geometry … it just works together,” Mattern added to the local outlet. “That’s why it’s such a powerful symbol.”
You may also like: How people are preserving LGBTQ+ history — despite the Trump administration’s efforts to erase it
Header image by Todd J. Burgess
