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There is or should be respect accorded to the phrase “Freedom Summer” in America due to the voter registration struggle in 1964 Mississippi. It claimed the lives of heroes and exposed troglodyte local officials as the KKK scum they were.

Florida’s current excruciating dullard of a governor, a man so devoid of talent and imagination and humanity that he patterns himself on whiny  lowlife convicted felon Donald Trump and even fails at that, co-opted “Freedom Summer” for a sales tax holiday.

Then the leaden lump made it a paean to the “freedom” his culture war bullshit supposedly bestowed on the state, including a FLDOT order that bridges can only display red, white and blue lights:

WaPo 5/23/2024 – DeSantis’s ‘Freedom Summer’ means no rainbow lights for Florida bridges

As part of what Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is calling “Freedom Summer,” his Transportation Department has told cities across the state that if they want to light up their bridges at night, they can only use the colors red, white and blue…

“As Floridians prepare for Freedom Summer, Florida’s bridges will follow suit, illuminating in red, white, and blue from Memorial Day through Labor Day!” [FLDOT Sec. Jared] Perdue wrote on X. “Thanks to the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida continues to be the freest state in the nation.”

A number of bridges across the state prominently display rainbow colors in honor of Pride Month in June, among other celebrations throughout the year. Many see the order to display only red, white and blue as another move against the LGBTQ+ community, which has been targeted by a number of DeSantis-backed laws in recent years.

For half of the population, bodily autonomy and access to modern reproductive healthcare were recently swept away in the shit-tsunami of “freedom” gushing out of Tallahassee. And of course this dumb goddamn lighting rule is yet another middle finger to the state’s embattled queer community.

In response, a set of heroes in Jacksonville banded together to light a candle instead of cursing the darkness. More accurately, they lit flashlights:

Action News Jax: Community members display their own version of pride, light up Main Street Bridge in San Marco

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Friday night, community members gathered to display their own version of pride — by lighting up the Main Street Bridge in San Marco with rainbow colors.

This comes after the Florida Department of Transportation said all state bridges must be lit red, white, and blue all summer long for Governor Ron DeSantis’s Freedom Summer.

Saturday kicks off Pride Month. And for years, the Acosta Bridge was lit with rainbow colors during June. But since that won’t happen this year, people found another way to show their pride.

Seventy people held flashlights of the six different colors of pride to illuminate the rainbow on the Main Street Bridge.

“This is an awesome experience,” participant Rebecca Thacker-Sanchez said.

“It feels really fun actually, I feel like we’re writing history today,” participant Andres Santandreu said.

Light display organizer, Matthew McAllister, says tonight’s event was about showing how freedom and diversity can coexist together.

“Celebrating freedom is great, exercising it is better,” McAllister said.

Amen, Mr. McAllister.

Thanks to TaMara for alerting me to this good news Florida story, and also to the ever-fabulous Sister Golden Bear, who mentioned it in the morning thread. Happy Pride, y’all!

Open thread!

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