Florida drag artist Miss Bouvee is turning lemons into pink lemonade, selling bricks from a destroyed rainbow crosswalk in South Beach to support Pride organizations in the state.
The charitable initiative comes ahead of a new law that threatens to slash local funding for LGBTQ+ groups across Florida.
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Last October, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) sledgehammered the Pride crosswalk on Ocean Avenue out of existence, claiming the street art put pedestrians in danger.
Miss Bouvee stepped in recently to pick up 50 bricks from the dismantled crosswalk at auction, adding commemorative plaques and the chance to own “part of our history” for a good cause.
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“Bricks can be secured for tax-deductible donations starting at $250,” she shared in an Instagram post. “Donations are made directly to the organization; I will personally provide a link to the org of your choice.”
Miss Bouvee, whose non-performer name is Eric Swanson, is hoping to raise $15,000 for Pride organizations in Key West and Naples. She’s already halfway to her goal.
“A lot of people just want a piece of our history. I think that it’s something tactile. It’s not just living it, you can hold it, and it’s something that really means something to people,” Swanson told CBS Miami.
The city of Miami Beach, which protested the crosswalk’s destruction and lost, reused most of the colorful bricks to create a new rainbow-tinted pedestrian plaza, mere steps away from the original location. The city auctioned off the remaining bricks.
Miss Bouvee’s brick pitch comes as LGBTQ+ and minority organizations grapple with the effects of Senate Bill 1143, a new law that goes into effect on January 1 and voids any local ordinance, program, or official policy action related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The DeSantis-backed legislation effectively strips localities of any say over how taxpayer money is spent when it comes to support for the arts, social programs, and myriad other initiatives that local officials are only beginning to grasp.
Last week, the Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library in Fort Lauderdale learned that it was one of the first victims of the remarkable state power grab.
The museum is one of several LGBTQ+ and other DEI targets slated to lose funding, including the South Florida Gay Men’s Chorus, Black LGBTQ+ Liberation, Inc. (BLINC), a performance and visual arts organization, and Island SPACE Caribbean Museum, the world’s first and only pan-Caribbean heritage museum. Those targets are just in Broward County alone.
Miss Bouvee’s charity effort will help Naples and Key West fund their Pride celebrations.
“In Key West, this is actually financing the live performance stage. This is keeping locals employed during Pride. It’s giving them a living wage so they can perform. It’s financing the production,” Swanson said.
The Florida Keys city was another victim of DeSantis’ self-declared war on rainbow crosswalks, when the gay mecca’s Pride display was painted over in the dead of night last September.
“You can’t erase us,” Swanson said. “We are important; we are voters in this state. We are taxpayers in this state. We have families in this state just like anybody else. And we deserve to be seen, and visibility is our protest, so we’re happy to keep going.”
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