This is deeply stupid and deadly serious at the same time.
At the intersection of North Main Avenue and West Evergreen Street just north of downtown San Antonio, semi-faded rainbows connect each street corner in place of standard, white crosswalks.
The intersection is located at the center of the city’s “gay strip,” a cluster of blocks long known as a home to San Antonio’s LGBTQ+ residents. City officials designated the area as the “Pride Cultural Heritage District” in June, seven years after the rainbow crosswalk was laid down.
But the colors that pave the four-way intersection may soon be erased, as San Antonio and other Texas cities face a Friday deadline to decide whether to remove their queer-themed crosswalks or lose millions in state funding. The crackdown came at the behest of Gov. Greg Abbott, who directed the Texas Department of Transportation in early October to make sure cities and counties remove roadway art displays that “advance political agendas” and “ideologies,” in the name of enhancing safety by limiting distractions.
Abbott’s office declined to answer questions about the order, directing the Tribune to the governor’s Oct. 8 press release announcing the clampdown.
That same day, TxDOT sent a letter to local transportation officials mandating the removal of “non-standard” road markings within 30 days. State standards require crosswalks to be composed solely of white lines that meet certain specifications.
Advocates and local officials have said the order is not about safety, but is rather a political move designed to strip away emblems commemorating areas with significant LGBTQ+ community or history.
“There’s nothing illegal about this crosswalk,” Pride San Antonio executive James Poindexter said. “There’s nothing political about it. The politics is in [Abbott’s] brain only.”
Poindexter and others in San Antonio are adamant they can win a legal battle against Abbott and come away with both the crosswalks and their funding — even as other cities have complied with the removal order, citing the risk of losing millions of transportation dollars. Last week, members of the community gathered to protest the San Antonio crosswalk’s potential removal while celebrating the installation of a new plaque at the intersection that honors the area’s’s new designation as a heritage district.
After the state directive came down, Pride San Antonio officials immediately got in touch with the city manager and other city officials to make the case for fighting back, Poindexter said.
San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, however, appears reluctant to push back against the order, saying in a statement to the Tribune that she believes the best way to honor the LGBTQ+ community is to find ways beyond the crosswalk to honor their role in the city’s story.
“We must be smart, realistic and effective, not just idealistic,” Jones, the city’s first openly gay mayor, said in her statement. “My pride isn’t tied to a crosswalk; it’s in the people and progress of San Antonio.”
Jones did not definitively state whether the city would remove the crosswalk art, but said she doubted an exception would be granted by the state. She also appeared at last week’s protest and told attendees she didn’t want to invite “unneeded retribution.”
Poindexter said Jones’ response and that of other cities’ leaders validates what he characterized as overreach by state and federal officials into local decisions.
“This is why bullies become powerful — because nobody stands up to them,” Poindexter said. “This is why this mentality has ripped across our nation, from the federal level down to the state level.”
[…]
Cities without rainbow crosswalks have also been swept into removing community artwork from their intersections. In Kerrville, city officials are planning to remove three blue and teal pieces of crosswalk art representing the Guadalupe River to comply with the order, according to a city spokesperson.
“While it’s unfortunate, we will have a letter to TxDOT on or before mid-November about a plan to have any crosswalk art removed,” Kerrville Assistant City Manager Michael Hornes said in a statement. “I don’t see how our color scheme would fit any of the exceptions.”
San Marcos also said in a statement that it would file exception requests for some of its street art, none of which are rainbow crosswalks.
See here, here, here, here, here, and here for the background. I’m still hoping someone files a lawsuit over this, as the First Amendment issue seems clear. I have no doubt that there’s zero evidence to suggest these crosswalks are a hindrance to pedestrian safety, but Sean Duffy and TxDOT are welcome to produce it in court. And boy, Kerrville covering up art about the Guadalupe River as a result of this order sure is something.
I don’t have any reason to think the exceptions will be granted – there’s no reason not to try, but let’s be real here – and even a slam dunk lawsuit is a roll of the dice. As such, I appreciate efforts like these as a way to resist.
When Nicky Davis heard that the city of Houston was removing a rainbow crosswalk in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood, where he spent much of his teen years, it crushed him.
“It really upset me,” Davis said. “I hate that they’re using gay pride as a political pawn.”
But Davis, a muralist and native Houstonian, turned his frustration into action. When an Instagram video of protestors refusing to move from the rainbow crosswalk came across his feed, Davis left a comment
“I’m a local muralist. If any business near the crosswalk wants a rainbow mural, I’ll paint it for free,” Davis wrote, adding several rainbow emojis. “Let’s cover the area in rainbows.”
[…]
One person tagged Korny Vibes, a vegan cafe that sits at the corner of Westheimer and Taft, right next to the crosswalk. Davis messaged the cafe, which he said was “instantly on board.”
“They’re like, ‘Yes, do it, you have creative freedom, do whatever you want to do, we love it,'” Davis recalled Korny Vibes saying.
Davis went out to paint the side of Korny Vibes’ space the same day that the Montrose crosswalk was removed. As Davis painted, the negative attention gave him pause. Would someone hurt him while he was painting? Would an angry commenter try to confront him? But as he painted, he found a much different vibe.
“Once I got out there, people were clapping and taking pictures with me, thanking me, telling me how great it is that we’re standing up to Greg Abbott this way,” Davis recalled. “Once I got out there and I realized how much it meant to everybody, I was like, ‘this is what should be done.'”
Now, bright rainbows with smiley faces stretch across the side of the restaurant. Korny Vibes couldn’t be reached for comment for this story, but has praised and promoted the mural on its social media page. Davis says he’s in discussions with other businesses in the area, up and down Westheimer, to paint rainbows for them.
And more rainbows have been painted, so read on for the details. I appreciate this, I approve of this, but I know it shouldn’t have to be like this. We will get back to a place where it won’t be, I know this. Painting a few more rainbows in the meantime will help us get there.
From DC through Austin to Harris County and Houston, we’re getting what we voted for (especially those who chose not to vote). If we’ve now figured out we don’t like what we’re getting, we should VOTE for something else.