A Key West couple is suing the City of Key West, arguing the municipality selectively enforced rules when they painted their fence in rainbow colors.
Coley Sohn and Linda Bagley-Sohn, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, say the city censored their protest against the city painting over its rainbow crosswalks.
The lawsuit alleges the city enforced the rule against the rainbow fence but failed to cite other noncompliant households for similar fence-color violations.
In 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration threatened to withhold road project funds if cities didn’t remove rainbow and colorful crosswalks, citing a recent law that allows the Florida Department of Transportation to block money for road projects if cities and counties fail to comply with the artwork’s removal.
Since then, the cities and counties have covered up crosswalks near schools and nursing homes, and the rainbow-colored memorial crosswalk outside of Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, the site of a 2016 mass shooting that left 49 people dead and 58 wounded.
“The government cannot enforce a law against people who express particular messages or views, while ignoring violations with different content or messages,” said ACLU of Florida staff attorney Nicholas Warren in press release. “That’s selective enforcement, and it’s illegal. We’ll see the city in court.”
