Due to new state and federal bans, Florida authorities removed a rainbow-painted crosswalk near the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, and the Left promptly lost its collective mind. State Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith declared it a "hostile act" against the city, going so far as to film himself in outrage over what he described as "illegal vandalism."
That's one way to frame it. Another way? Authorities decided that taxpayer-funded crosswalks shouldn't double as political billboards.
Even right-leaning commentator Guy Benson, who is in an openly gay "marriage," offered disappointed criticism, suggesting it was a misstep.
No, they shouldn't have, Mr. Benson. Because the rainbow crosswalk was never really about honoring victims; it was about advancing a cause.
Let's remember the truth of that massacre that often gets lost under layers of rainbow confetti: The Pulse massacre wasn't an anti-gay vendetta.
The terrorist intended to attack Disney Springs, but got spooked by security and chose Pulse instead. His motive was allegiance to ISIS and jihadist ideology, not a crusade against homosexuality. That doesn't make the deaths less tragic, but it does make the rainbow crosswalk a distortion of history.
That's worth caring about. We don't honor the dead by rewriting the story. We honor them by telling the truth: Forty-nine people - image-bearers of God - were murdered in cold blood by a man who pledged his loyalty to a demonic ideology. That's the reality.
But rainbow paint is not remembrance. It's marketing. It's the kind of "memorial" that conveniently doubles as a never-ending Pride flag that offers an invitation to keep politicizing a tragedy instead of grieving it honestly.
Memorials should call us to remember, not recruit us to a cause.
So yes, Governor DeSantis and the state of Florida made the right call. The public deserves something better than a crosswalk stunt, and so do the lives lost at Pulse. They deserve a memorial that points us toward shared humanity, not one more symbol in America's endless culture war.
The Left will scream "bigotry," of course. That's what they always do. But sometimes the most compassionate thing is also the most courageous thing: refusing to let tragedy be co-opted into propaganda.
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
