Florida Couple Sues After City Orders Rainbow Fence Removed

After Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ordered the removal of 400 rainbow Pride displays from public spaces in August 2025, Nicole "Coley" Sohn and her wife Linda Bagley-Sohn found a creative way to protest. They painted just 12 pickets of their white fence in rainbow colors.

The simple act sparked something bigger. More than 50 neighbors in Key West's Old Town painted their own rainbow fence pickets in solidarity, creating a visible wave of support for LGBTQ+ inclusion across the historic district.

But not everyone appreciated the message. After complaints rolled in, the city cited the Bagley-Sohns under regulations requiring all fences in the historic district to be painted white. They were told to repaint or face mounting fines.

The couple removed their rainbow display to avoid penalties. So did many of their neighbors who had joined the protest.

Here's where things get interesting. The ACLU of Florida noticed something the city apparently hoped no one would see: selective enforcement.

Lawsuit documents include photo evidence of numerous other fences in the area that violate the same color regulations. Blue fences, black gates, multicolored structures. None of them received citations.

"The only fence and gate color violations the City has cited in recent years have been Plaintiffs' and their co-protestors' rainbow displays," the federal lawsuit argues.

ACLU attorney Nicholas Warren calls it what it is: illegal. "If the government is going to enforce the law, it can't single out certain expression or messages and ignore others," he told The Palm Beach Post.

The Ripple Effect

The lawsuit, Sohn v. City of Key West, now filed in federal court, reaches far beyond one couple's fence. It challenges whether governments can selectively enforce rules to silence messages they disagree with, a fundamental First Amendment question.

The timing matters too. DeSantis's directive included painting over a rainbow crosswalk outside the former Pulse nightclub, where 49 people died in a 2016 shooting. Community members repainted that tribute themselves under cover of darkness.

"No one should lose their right to speak out simply because those in power disagree with the message," Coley Sohn said in a statement. "That's what the First Amendment protects us from."

Their legal fight has already inspired other creative protests. St. Petersburg responded to the crosswalk ban by installing rainbow bike racks instead. Business owners across Florida found their own ways to display Pride colors on private property.

What started as 12 painted fence pickets has become a test case for free expression that could protect constitutional rights for everyone, regardless of the message.