Of rainbows, crosswalks, 'Friends of Dorothy' and why Judy Garland might not be happy were she with us today

'Behold, I establish my covenant with you … that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.' --Genesis 9:8-11

On this day in 1939, American audiences were introduced to Judy Garland as Dorothy in the film adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s children’s story, The Wizard of Oz.

Even as we mark this milestone, agents from the Florida Department of Transportation are roaming the streets of our fair state with paint brushes, wiping out the rainbows Dorothy sang about.

Those rainbows adorn crosswalks in several Florida cities, serving as symbols of solidarity with our gay friends and neighbors, and at one particular location—in Orlando—serve as a reminder of the hateful mass murder of 49 people at Pulse, a gay nightclub, in 2016.

They are being erased at the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Why?

It begins with Sean Duffy, former Fox news presenter and Donald Trump’s Transportation secretary, who says rainbow crosswalks are a distraction. See, it’s all about safety.

Except then he went on social media and said:

Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks.

Anti-woke warrior DeSantis eagerly leaped into action, thereafter declaring:

We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes.

Memorials to victims of hate crimes are now political statements, it seems.

The desecration of the rainbow sidewalk in Orlando did not sit well with the locals. They repainted it. Then the censors from FDOT returned and wiped out the rainbows again, and state and local cops were assigned to guard the crosswalk to thwart any further vigilante artistry.

Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith had these words on social media for DeSantis:

The rainbow crosswalk was APPROVED by FDOT years ago to honor the 49 (who died at Pulse and to) enhance pedestrian safety for those who come to pay their respects. You looked survivors in the eye (and) promised they would never be forgotten-- then betrayed them for political ambition.

Then, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer weighed in:

We are devastated to learn that overnight the state painted over the Pulse Memorial crosswalk on Orange Avenue. This callous action of hastily removing part of a memorial to what was at the time our nation's largest mass shooting, without any supporting safety data or discussion, is a cruel political act.

The City of Orlando's safety crosswalks were all installed in close coordination with the state and adhere to national safety standards. In fact, the crosswalk that is part of the Pulse Memorial was installed by the state.

DeSantis famously declared “war on woke” during his abortive attempt to win the Republican presidential nomination, and it played well with the party’s MAGA base, which equates “woke” with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the workplace.

So, there’s no mystery why this is happening.

But I was curious about how it is that rainbows, per se, got caught up in this. After all, aren’t rainbows a good thing? I remember from Sunday school class as a kid learning that God placed a rainbow in the sky as part of a deal he made with Noah after the flood that wiped out most every living thing on the planet, according to the Old Testament.

Behold, I establish my covenant with you … that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:8-11)

So how did rainbows become so controversial? Here’s what I learned by consulting the never-wrong internet, and this is a very abbreviated summary. You can read more about it here if you like.

Artist Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag in 1978 at the request of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, who at the time was the first openly gay elected official in the country. But even before then, Judy Garland had been acting as an unofficial mascot for a generation of gay men who flocked to her performances. Somewhere Over the Rainbow, the iconic song in The Wizard of Oz, resonated with its “themes of longing, displacement and finding acceptance in a new world.” At the time, “Friend of Dorothy” was code for being gay.

So here we are on the anniversary of that film’s opening date, a movie whose central themes focused on the importance of friendship and compassion for which the rainbow is a symbol.

Judy Garland died in 1969. Were she still with us, I can’t imagine she or Dorothy would be happy about the recent news.

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RELATED STORIES:

Reel Pride: The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Orlando officials denounce removal of rainbow crosswalk near nightclub mass shooting site

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J.C. Bruce, journalist and author, is the editor of Tropic Press. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida.

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