Thumbing Their Nose

In Florida they banned rainbow crosswalks... in St. Petersburg they laughed in Ron DeSantis face. He banned rainbow crosswalks how about a 60 miles laser rainbow!

Defiant St. Pete lights up the sky as Winter Pride Saint Pete shines 60 miles strong

WMNF

February 20, 2026

Chris Gorman

Winter Pride Saint Pete had its grand pride laser light ceremony, sending rainbow lasers into the evening sky in a display that organizers say can be seen from as far as 60 miles away.

The show didn’t explode into full brightness right away. Instead, it started off subtle… a slow, gradual process as the lasers warmed up. At first, the colors were faint and easy to miss against the glow of the streets, but as the minutes passed, the beams sharpened, brightened, and became dramatically more vivid.

By the time the display reached its peak, the transformation was undeniable. What began as a low-key start built steadily into a striking, intensely colorful rainbow stretching above St. Pete.

Even though the ceremony took place in the heart of St. Petersburg, the lasers didn’t feel like a local-only moment. People throughout the area reported seeing the glow from a distance, turning the launch into something bigger than a single gathering and giving Winter Pride a skyline-sized presence.

LGBTQ Nation reports that,

City sticks it to Ron DeSantis with massive rainbow laser display

This is not the first act of rebellion the city has taken since DeSantis removed its rainbow crosswalks.

Molly Sprayregen (She/Her)

February 23, 2026

The city of St. Petersburg, Florida, has continued to find ways to support its LGBTQ+ community amid Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R) crusade to eradicate rainbow crosswalks from the state.

Most recently, the organizers of Winter Pride St. Pete lit up the night sky with an impressive rainbow laser display visible from more than 60 miles away.

Winter Pride St. Pete executive director Rob Hall called the light show “a remarkable moment,” confirming it was a direct response to the LGBTQ+ erasure taking place in the state.

He told Fox 13 that he knew he should come to St. Petersburg after he came out as an adult. He said the rainbow crosswalk he saw when he got there, which has since been removed by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), was “life-changing.”

“When it was removed, it had a significant impact on my heart,” he said.

The light display was designed by laser artist Yvette Mattern, who said she was “so proud to be able to do this where that rainbow crosswalk was taken away.”

Two thumbs up!