🌈✨GLITTER-BOMB ALERT FROM THE CONCH REPUBLIC!✨🌈

Key West Is Replacing Its Rainbows — With a Dazzling New Arch of Inclusion!

KEY WEST, Fla. — Break out the sequins, polish those disco balls, and tell Dorothy she doesn’t need to click her ruby slippers anymore — because Key West is rolling out a brand-new rainbow statement so fabulous, it might just make the heavens jealous.

On Tuesday, senior city staff sashayed into a meeting with the Key West Business Guild — the very heartbeat of LGBTQ+ tourism in paradise — to discuss the glittering future of pride at Duval and Petronia. The topic? Replacing the recently snatched away rainbow crosswalks with something even more flamboyant, more permanent, and more unapologetically Key West.

Enter: the Arch of Inclusivity, a shimmering new gateway that will soon declare to the world, in bold, Technicolor letters, “All are welcome here — Key West.” Picture it: a radiant arch spanning Petronia Street right next to the legendary 801 Bourbon Bar (because of course it had to be next to drag central).

“It’s not just an arch — it’s a hug from the city itself,” swooned Guild board president Cori Convertito, who revealed early renderings that had more sparkle than a Mardi Gras parade and more heart than a Broadway finale.

City Manager Brian L. Barroso, wearing his metaphorical glitter cape, reassured the guild’s dazzling trio — Convertito, Executive Director Rob Dougherty, and Deputy Director Fritzie Estimond — that this project isn’t just on his to-do list. Oh no, honey. It’s his number-one, front-row, VIP-priority, Beyoncé-headlining Coachella kind of project.

The idea came after more than a dozen community members unleashed their inner rainbow-visionaries. While some suggested murals, sculptures, or even rainbow fountains (Key West mermaids are still campaigning for that one), the arch stole the spotlight like a drag queen in 6-inch heels.

And the location? Iconic. On one side of Petronia stands the Bahama Village arch — a nod to Key West’s heritage. On the other, the soon-to-rise Pride Arch, blazing with inclusion, a neon declaration that everyone from sailors to sequined stiletto-wearers belongs in the Conch Republic.

Local chatter is already exploding like fireworks over Mallory Square. “This arch is going to outshine Times Square, darling,” one resident quipped while bedazzling their scooter. Another said, “Finally, a landmark my glitter beard can feel at home under.”

So brace yourself, Key West. The rainbows may have been taken, but what’s coming next isn’t just a replacement. It’s a reinvention — an unapologetic, glitter-drenched promise that the island will always stay bold, brash, inclusive, and fabulous.

✨🌴 Because here in Key West, even the streets are drag-runways, and every arch deserves a tiara. 🌈👑