SAN ANTONIO—City officials found a way to flaunt state and federal prohibitions on “pride crosswalks,” and it could come at a high price for taxpayers.
These rainbow-painted stretches of road became a common sight during the Biden years. That has changed since President Donald Trump returned to office, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warning governors that “roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is one of several red state leaders who expressly prohibited pride crosswalks, saying in October that “Texans expect their taxpayer dollars to be used wisely, not advance political agendas on Texas roadways,” and warning that “any city that refuses to comply with the federal road standards will face consequences including the withholding or denial of state and federal road funding.”
Rather than comply, the City of San Antonio devised a clever workaround to Abbott’s prohibition: it will start painting sidewalks instead.
Construction crews began power-washing a block of sidewalk in the city’s “Pride Cultural Heritage District,” or “gay strip,” as it is locally known, earlier this month. This follows about three months of planning by the city council and “LGBTQ+ Advisory Board,” and is projected to cost taxpayers $170,000.
Several Texas cities initially sought exemptions to Abbott’s ban on political road artwork, requests the governor’s office denied. San Antonio’s decision to plow ahead with its pride sidewalk comes as several Florida towns have done the same in violation of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s prohibition on these installations.
Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, told The Daily Wire that the governor “expects all Texas municipalities to fully comply with his directive on roadway safety and U.S. Department of Transportation guidance and regulations.”
San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and the San Antonio City Council did not respond to requests for comment.
It is unclear how Abbott or the Transportation Department will penalize San Antonio. But the pride sidewalk already faces steep local opposition from an unlikely coalition.
Pride San Antonio, a nonprofit that organizes pride events, funded most of San Antonio’s original rainbow crosswalk, sued to block the pride sidewalk alongside the San Antonio chapter of the Texas Conservative Liberty Forum.
While the parties to this improbable joint lawsuit have radically different end goals — Pride San Antonio wants to bring back the rainbow crosswalks, while the Texas Conservative Liberty Forum wants to nix all public pride paintings — both groups argue that it is a misappropriation of funds to do so, according to attorney Justin Nichols.
Pride San Antonio, in particular, objects to the astronomical cost of painting the sidewalk, noting in the lawsuit that it spent $4,690 in 2023 on maintenance for the pride crosswalk, and noted elsewhere that most of the $19,000 that originally went into painting the crosswalk was fundraised, rather than provided by the city.
Texas Conservative Liberty Forum president Joe Garza said both parties “hope the city will hold a public debate and vote on the proposed rainbow sidewalk.” And while he acknowledges that debate will pit his group against Pride San Antonio, he remains committed to the joint lawsuit.
“We believe cities have to make the choice that’s best for them,” he said, “but that elected officials should make those choices, not bureaucrats.”
One such elected official is San Antonio City Councilwoman Misty Spears.
“I believe the elimination of the rainbow crosswalks was an important roadway safety decision made by the state of Texas and not intended to target San Antonio or the LGBTQ community,” the Republican wrote in a statement. “Tax dollars should not fund individual viewpoints.”
Whether or not this lawsuit succeeds, it seems that other Texas cities are hellbent on flouting Abbott’s ban. Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas decided to paint its steps rainbow in response to the city agreeing to repaint the pride-themed crosswalk.
And Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert told the mayor and city council that she would continue to look for ways to “allow neighborhoods to express their unique community identity,” according to a December 12 memo.
Neither Tolbert nor the mayors of Austin or Dallas responded to requests for comment.
Sam Korkus is a student at the University of Dallas and a contributor to The College Fix.
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