Rainbow Crosswalk – Photo: Lucas van Oort via Unsplash
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is cracking down on alleged “distractions” for drivers, taking particular aim at rainbow crosswalks.
In a letter to all 50 state governors, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and the governor of Puerto Rico, Duffy — a former Republican congressman — urged them to take part in the Federal Highway Administration’s “Safe Arterials for Everyone through Reliable Operations and Distraction-Reducing Strategies,” or SAFE ROADS, initiative.
The initiative targets non-freeway arterial roads, where more than half of U.S. roadway deaths occur — often involving pedestrians — according to data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Duffy’s letter notes that an estimated 39,345 people died on American roads last year, a decrease of 3.8% from the year prior, but still an “unacceptable” number.
“The SAFE ROADS national initiative will focus on the non-freeway arterials within your state, including safety and operation at intersections and along segments, consistent and recognizable traffic control devices including crosswalk and intersection markings, and orderly use of the right-of-way that is kept free from distractions,” the letter states.
Duffy asked that each state’s department of transportation “develop a list of arterial segments, including intersections, with the highest safety, operational, or compliance concerns,” to be addressed by September 30, 2026 — the end of Fiscal Year 2026. The lists will be submitted to the Federal Highway Administration’s office in each state, which will then seek to address those concerns.
Among the “distractions” that allegedly lead to accidents and traffic fatalities are rainbow crosswalks, which Duffy has derided as “political messaging.”
“Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork,” he said in a statement provided to the right-wing news outlet The Daily Signal. “I am calling on governors in every state to ensure that roadways, intersections, and crosswalks are kept free of distractions.”
Duffy did not say how many of the 39,345 traffic fatalities in 2024 were due to rainbow crosswalks.
However, the secretary’s fatwa against rainbow crosswalks has some basis in past statements from the Federal Highway Administration. In 2011, the FHWA said that crosswalk art is “contrary to the goal of increased safety and most likely could be a contributing factor to a false sense of security for both motorists and pedestrians” because it makes the white lines of a crosswalk harder to distinguish from the pavement beneath it.
“Crosswalk art has a potential to compromise pedestrian and motorist safety by interfering with, detracting from, or obscuring official traffic control devices,” the FHA wrote at the time. “The art can also encourage road users, especially bicycles and pedestrians, to directly participate in the design, loiter in the street, or give reason to not vacate the street in an expedient or predictable manner.”
Rainbow crosswalks celebrating Pride or recognizing the LGBTQ community have long triggered social conservatives, who often believe LGBTQ identity should not be acknowledged or celebrated publicly.
Cities across the United States — in both liberal and conservative states — have painted rainbow-themed designs on crosswalks for various reasons. In 2019, the FHWA even ordered the city of Ames, Iowa, to remove its rainbow crosswalks. The city rejected the demand, arguing that the Trump administration had failed to justify the request.
But if Duffy has his way, LGBTQ-themed artwork will be paved or painted over.
Duffy has never shown respect for LGBTQ identity — whether voting against pro-LGBTQ bills during his time in Congress or, earlier, as a reality TV star on MTV’s 1990s-era Real World Boston, where he repeatedly pursued fellow cast member Genesis Moss, an out lesbian who made clear she wasn’t attracted to him.
In that respect, the demands to eliminate rainbow crosswalks and so-called “political” artwork from roads would appear to align with not only his personal views of the LGBTQ community, but efforts by the Trump administration to eliminate so-called “wokeness” from government, avoid acknowledgment of gay, lesbian, or bisexual identity, and deny recognition of transgender identity.
The push to eliminate rainbow crosswalks from roads aligns not only with Duffy’s personal views of the LGBTQ community but also with broader efforts by the Trump administration to avoid acknowledgment of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender identity.
Rainbow crosswalks have also been targeted by individuals seeking to send a political message of disapproval toward the LGBTQ community. Last year, a Republican teenager, Dylan Brewer, performed burnouts on a rainbow-decorated intersection in Delray Beach, Florida. He was ordered to pay $6,000 in damages.
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a Tennessee law banning doctors from prescribing gender-affirming puberty blockers and hormones to transgender youth with gender dysphoria.
A group of families of transgender youth and a doctor who treats them sued to overturn the law, arguing it was unconstitutional, infringed on parental rights, and violated nondiscrimination protections in the Affordable Care Act. Lower courts ultimately dismissed the parental rights and ACA-based claims.
Jonathan Joss, who voiced the character of John Redcorn in the animated comedy series King of the Hill, was shot and killed by a neighbor with whom he had allegedly clashed.
In addition to his role on King of the Hill, Joss was also known for a recurring part as Chief Hen Hotate in Parks and Recreation, as well as appearances in Tulsa King, Ray Donovan, True Grit, and The Magnificent Seven.
According to TMZ, the 59-year-old was shot on his property in San Antonio, Texas, allegedly by his neighbor, Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja, who was arrested and remains in police custody.
In another swipe at the transgender community, the national monument honoring what is widely seen as the seminal event of the modern LGBTQ rights movement has erased all mention of transgender and queer people.
Each June, the Stonewall National Monument in New York City typically decorates the fence surrounding Christopher Park -- the small park adjacent to the historic Stonewall Inn and part of the official monument -- with various Pride flags.
In past years, the display has featured a mix of flags -- the familiar six-stripe rainbow Pride flag, the blue, pink, and white transgender Pride flag, and the "Progress" flag, which adds stripes for Black and brown communities and a chevron design incorporating transgender and intersex Pride colors.
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