Florida’s War on Crosswalks Exposes the Hypocrisy Behind Cracker Barrel’s Logo Outrage
Written by Peter Boykin on August 28, 2025
Florida’s War on Crosswalks Exposes the Hypocrisy Behind Cracker Barrel’s Logo Outrage
#GoRightNews Shared by Peter Boykin
American Political Commentator / Citizen Journalist / Activist / Constitutionalist for Liberty
Florida’s War on Crosswalks Exposes the Hypocrisy Behind Cracker Barrel’s Logo Outrage
Uniform Blandness: Cracker Barrel vs. Crosswalks it’s Hypocrisy at its Finest
When Cracker Barrel quietly rolled out a new, sterile corporate logo, conservatives across America erupted. NBC News reported that “after intense backlash, Cracker Barrel announced it would revert to its old logo,” noting that critics called the new design “plain” and “corporate” and some accused it of being “woke.” Social media lit up with memes blaming “the alphabet mafia,” and Donald Trump himself weighed in, saying the chain should “go back to the logo that people loved.” And what happened? The backlash worked. Cracker Barrel backed down. Tradition was restored. A clear example that when a community resists the bland uniformity of corporate efficiency, the people can make a company reverse course.
Now let’s jump to Florida. Here, it’s not a corporation blanding its image, it’s the government blanding its streets. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) have decreed that “uniform safety standards” require the removal of rainbow crosswalks, checkered sports crosswalks, and even colorful school crossings that the state itself once awarded. Overnight, without warning, the Orlando Pulse memorial crosswalk was scrubbed away. NBC News reported that “Florida cities are racing against state deadlines to remove rainbow crosswalks or risk losing transportation funding.” Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward called the forced removals “insulting” because the projects were locally approved and, as he explained, “[n]o city funding was used for the project” (The Independent Florida Alligator).
This isn’t just about rainbows. Axios reports that Tampa schools are losing their once-celebrated safety murals: “Florida orders removal of Tampa school crosswalks it once awarded,” calling it a total reversal of prior recognition. The Tampa Bay Times notes that at least 15 colorful school crosswalks in Hillsborough County are now set to be erased. Daytona’s iconic checkered-flag crosswalks, central to the city’s racing culture, are being painted over as well (Daytona story). And when the federal government launched a study comparing plain versus painted crosswalk safety, a rainbow test site was vandalized, halting the project. As LGBTQ Nation reported: “The crosswalk wasn’t painted to honor the LGBTQ+ community, it was painted to study lifesaving safety measures.”
Yet, studies we already have shown FDOT is wrong. Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Safety Study found that intersections with painted crosswalks saw “a 50 percent decrease in crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists” and “a 37 percent drop in crashes leading to injuries.” Streetsblog USA further confirmed that driver yielding increased by 27 percent at painted intersections. Painted crosswalks increase safety, not decrease it.
When a Logo Change Sparks Fury but Erasing a Memorial Gets a Pass, Hypocrisy at Its Finest
Here’s the contrast. Conservatives blew a gasket over Cracker Barrel’s bland new logo and forced a reversal, yet many of those same voices fall silent, or worse, cheer when the state imposes bland uniformity on public spaces. When it was about fried chicken, blandness was “woke.” But when it’s about rainbow crosswalks, suddenly blandness is “the law.” That’s not principle, that’s hypocrisy.
And to my fellow conservatives who shrug this off with “it’s just a rainbow” or “not on public streets” or “taxpayers shouldn’t pay” understand this: most of these projects weren’t taxpayer-funded. As Gainesville officials confirmed, “[n]o city funding was used for the project” (Alligator). Communities raised the money themselves, through fundraisers and donations. It’s the purest form of grassroots expression, the kind conservatives claim to champion. Yet now, the state is erasing it, not because it’s unsafe, but because it’s inconvenient to an anti-DEI political agenda.
This is the irony. The same movement that rallies against government overreach is now defending state-sponsored overreach as long as it targets symbols they don’t like. And somehow, bizarrely, the LGBTQ community still gets blamed for every attempt at “uniform blandness,” even though in this case, it’s the government wielding the paint roller.
The reality is simple: what’s happening in Florida isn’t about rainbows or racing stripes or school murals. It’s about power. It’s about the state forcing uniform blandness onto communities that dared to make their streets reflect who they are. Conservatives mocked Cracker Barrel’s bland logo and won. Yet when the government does the same thing to cities and communities, those same conservatives look the other way.
So, ask yourself, are Republicans really willing to die on this hill? To erase rainbows, checkerboards, and school colors while claiming to defend liberty? Or are we finally ready to admit that liberty means letting local communities decide what their streets look like without the state’s gray paintbrush blotting it all out?
Logos Reversed, Crosswalks Erased: Is Florida Forcing Blandness Over Liberty?
When Cracker Barrel quietly rolled out a sterile new logo, conservatives across America erupted. The rebrand stripped away the rustic warmth of tradition, replacing it with a cold, soulless corporate mark. Critics screamed “woke,” some even bizarrely blamed the gay community, and the outrage grew so loud that Donald Trump himself weighed in. And what happened? The backlash worked. After the fury, Cracker Barrel reversed course and restored its original logo. A reminder that when people resist uniform blandness, they can make corporations back down.
Read more here – NBC News
But in Florida, it isn’t corporations blanding their image, it’s the government blanding its streets. Under Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Department of Transportation has moved to erase rainbow crosswalks, checkered flag designs, and colorful school crossings under the guise of “uniform safety standards.” Communities that raised their own funds for these projects are being told they must comply or lose millions in critical state and federal funding. Gainesville, Tampa, Daytona, Orlando, and cities across Florida are being forced to choose between visibility and survival.
Crosswalks Targeted Across Florida
Pulse Crosswalk Removed Overnight
The rainbow-painted crosswalk at the Pulse nightclub site in Orlando, created as a memorial for the 49 lives lost, was erased overnight with no warning. The move sparked outrage and grief, as the removal was seen not just as repainting asphalt but as erasing memory.
Daytona Checkered Flag Crosswalks
Daytona Beach, a city whose very identity is tied to racing, was told its iconic checkered flag crosswalks will be repainted plain. The order comes despite the fact these designs are central to Daytona’s sports culture.
Read more – Daytona Story
Federal Safety Study Vandalized
A federal study testing the safety of colorful crosswalks versus plain ones was interrupted after a rainbow crosswalk in the study was vandalized. The irony? Early results showed decorated crosswalks improve safety—FDOT’s “uniformity” argument doesn’t match the evidence.
Read more – LGBTQ Nation
Tampa School Crosswalks Ordered Removed
Florida ordered the removal of colorful school crosswalks in Tampa that it had once celebrated and awarded. The state declared them unsafe, contradicting years of its own endorsements.
Read more – Axios
Hillsborough County Schools
At least 15 colorful school crosswalks across Hillsborough County are being erased. These were designed to help kids cross streets safely by making the crossings more visible, yet FDOT insists they must go.
Read more – Tampa Bay Times
Cities Scramble to Save Crosswalks
NBC News reports that cities across Florida are racing against looming FDOT deadlines to preserve their rainbow crosswalks before they’re stripped away. The fight has become a local versus state showdown, with visibility and community pride on the line.
Read more – NBC News
The Hypocrisy of Uniform Blandness
Here’s the wild contrast: conservatives waged war against Cracker Barrel’s cold logo and won, proving public outrage can reverse a company’s course. Yet when Florida imposes uniform blandness on communities, removing rainbows, school designs, even cultural landmarks, many conservatives shrug or defend it.
Studies prove FDOT is wrong. Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Safety Study showed pedestrian and cyclist crashes dropped by nearly 50 percent at painted intersections, injury crashes dropped by over 30 percent, and driver yielding went up 27 percent.
Read more – Bloomberg Study PDF
Coverage – Streetsblog USA
Cracker Barrel Reversed Course, Why Won’t Florida? Is Liberty Being Painted Over in Gray? #GoRight with Peter Boykin Commentary
As the founder of Gays For Trump and a Constitutionalist for Liberty, I’ve taken my fair share of backlash for reporting stories like these. Every time I post or write about the hypocrisy of our political culture, the responses prove my point. People don’t read, they skim. They don’t absorb, they react. They’ll ask questions that are already answered in the article or make statements that contradict the very evidence sitting in front of them. It shows how many Americans on both the left and the right are low information voters. Too many have been programmed to respond like sheep rather than think independently.
That’s why I do this. My goal is not to parrot party talking points. It’s to challenge them. To make people think outside party lines. To encourage conservatives, moderates, independents, libertarians, and yes even classical liberals to ask real questions, spot hypocrisy, and demand consistency from every side.
Conservatives fought back against Cracker Barrel when it tried to strip away its rustic logo and replace it with a bland corporate emblem. They raised their voices, they ridiculed the change, and even Donald Trump himself weighed in. And it worked. Cracker Barrel reversed course and restored the old logo. That was not just a victory for tradition, it was proof that when the people stand together, they can stop corporate blandness in its tracks.
So why is it that when the State of Florida under Governor Ron DeSantis and FDOT does the same thing, imposing blandness on entire communities, many conservatives suddenly fall silent? Why is blandness an outrage when it comes from a corporation, but perfectly acceptable when it comes from the state?
This is hypocrisy. Liberty doesn’t stop at a company logo. Liberty applies to our communities, our streets, and our right to self expression. Gainesville, Tampa, Orlando, Daytona, these cities funded their crosswalks through donations and fundraisers, not through taxpayer handouts. These were grassroots projects, the very thing conservatives claim to respect. And yet, overnight, they were erased. Not for safety. Not for cost. But for politics.
And the data is clear. Painted crosswalks are not dangerous. Bloomberg’s Asphalt Art Safety Study found pedestrian and cyclist crashes dropped by nearly 50 percent where colorful crosswalks were installed. Injury crashes went down. Driver yielding went up. Painted crosswalks save lives. FDOT’s so called “uniform standards” are not based on evidence, they are based on politics.
Here’s the real danger. Conservatives built a movement on local control, on resisting government overreach, on standing up for “We the People.” Yet when state government takes a paint roller to memorials, school crossings, and community funded symbols, too many look the other way simply because the man holding the roller has an R next to his name.
My fellow conservatives, if we ignore overreach just because it comes from our own side, then we are no better than the left we claim to oppose. Liberty is not partisan. Liberty is principle. And principle demands consistency. You cannot rail against Cracker Barrel’s logo change and cheer the erasure of a rainbow crosswalk without admitting you’ve traded principle for party loyalty.
This fight is not about rainbows. It is not about DEI. It is about liberty versus control. If we allow the state to dictate what our streets must look like, what symbols we are allowed to display, and what memories we are permitted to honor, then we have already surrendered the very ground conservatives claim to defend.
So here is the call to action. Write your legislators. Flood FDOT with demands that policy be based on safety, not ideology. Support your local leaders when they fight for the right to keep their communities colorful, visible, and alive. Share the truth. Studies prove these crosswalks are safer, not more dangerous. And most of all, do not let party politics blind you to government overreach.
Because if we stay silent, Florida’s gray paintbrush will not stop at rainbows, checkered flags, or school murals. It will roll right over liberty itself.
#GoRight with Peter Boykin – Because liberty isn’t bland. It’s colorful, it’s diverse, and it belongs to “We the People.”
Sources
- NBC News – “Cracker Barrel will go back to old logo after conservative backlash”
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/cracker-barrel-logo-rcna227389 - The Independent Florida Alligator – “Gainesville says goodbye to rainbow crosswalks”
https://www.alligator.org/article/2025/08/gainesville-says-goodbye-to-rainbow-crosswalks - Google Drive – “After Pulse dust-up, Daytona checkered-flag crosswalks to be repainted”
https://share.google/EC5OGCyFfSlMSfJ7K - LGBTQ Nation – “Federal road safety study interrupted after vandal destroys rainbow crosswalk”
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/08/federal-road-safety-study-interrupted-after-vandal-destroys-rainbow-crosswalk/ - Axios – “Florida orders removal of Tampa school crosswalks it once awarded”
https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2025/08/25/tampa-street-art-removal-florida - Tampa Bay Times – “Florida to erase at least 15 colorful school crosswalks in Hillsborough”
https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2025/08/27/florida-erase-least-15-colorful-school-crosswalks-hillsborough/ - NBC News – “Florida cities race to save rainbow crosswalks as state’s removal deadlines loom”
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/florida-cities-race-rainbow-crosswalks-states-removal-deadlines-loom-rcna227614 - Bloomberg Philanthropies – Asphalt Art Safety Study (PDF)
https://assets.bbhub.io/dotorg/sites/43/2022/04/Asphalt-Art-Safety-Study.pdf - Streetsblog USA – “Study: Asphalt Art Decreases Vulnerable Road User Crashes by 50 Percent”
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2022/04/22/study-asphalt-art-decreases-vulnerable-road-user-crashes-by-50-percent
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