As Florida paints over rainbow crosswalks, Pride 2026 is how we resist | Opinion

The war on DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) originally put communities of marginalized and minority peoples on their back feet. We felt as if we were deep in a hole fighting to keep the sand out, one grain at a time as our federal and state governments tried to bury us alive.

Each battle felt as if it could be the final blow and the government was on offense. Ivy League universities, major corporations, the largest and most powerful law firms and private foundations were all bending a knee and walking away from historic social responsibility.

PRIDE 2026 begins on June 1, and will remind the world and the power brokers at home that nothing is more powerful than knowledge and memory. No matter how many crosswalks are painted over, no matter how many flags are removed, the rainbow will still appear after the thunder and lightning pass.

Our communities never stopped fighting even as grants were cut, corporate donations vanished into thin air and calls were no longer returned.

In Florida, rainbows disappeared, books and words themselves were erased. Anita Bryant, the singer who campaigned against gay rights in Miami-Dade in the 1970s, must have felt vindicated. But history and culture, tradition and talent are not easily destroyed. Pride in our community’s contributions over the centuries cannot be ignored. Even in the face of prejudice and injustice, the sun finds a way to break through the clouds.

That is why plans are underway in Florida to establish a world-class institution that will take the Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library in Fort Lauderdale to a new level of interactive and immersive technology. It will bring history and culture alive in real time in a space that can accommodate a new way of thinking and learning. Our goal is to locate this new museum in the Fort Lauderdale area with an opening date for Pride 2030.

As a marginalized community, we must always be where the fight is, reminding people that their history lives and their future is bright even in the “Don’t Say Gay” state.

LGBTQ+ history and achievement are as old as time and that brilliance continues to be celebrated in the most famous museums, concert halls, libraries, universities, theaters and in business centers across the globe. From the most famous piece of art, the Mona Lisa, painted by a gay man hundreds of years ago, to the top of the chart music makers of today, undeniable talent will be rewarded.

PRIDE marches on and marches to its own drummer as it wins friends and fans and wakes people out of their “where woke goes to die” slumber.

Who wants to ignore humankind’s greatest achievements? That is what PRIDE month is all about and that is why, even in some of the most dangerous places, people are willing to risk punishment to celebrate the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising.

So, as governments remove flags and crosswalks, more people are learning the stories of those who came before them and on whose shoulders we all stand. The more we share those stories the more difficult it is to erase a culture that lights up the night sky with creativity and an unquenchable love of life.

The bombast of former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, the calm control of Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the reframing of art by Andy Warhol and the music of Elton John provide us with an understanding that we deserve the same justice and equality as everyone else.

In the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we take note that just as the Continental Congress considered firing George Washington for his failures as a general, a gay man from Prussia went to Valley Forge and wrote “Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the troops of the United States.” This booklet is still in use today and helped Washington win the Revolutionary War. Baron von Steuben remains a heroic figure in LGBTQ+ history, which is indeed American history, and you simply cannot erase that.

Happy Pride. Everyone is welcome.

Robert Kesten is president and CEO of the Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library in Fort Lauderdale.