Rainbow crosswalks celebrating LGBTQ+ pride in Central Texas may soon be gone, but not without a fight in the state’s capital city. Last week, Governor Greg Abbott ordered cities and counties to remove “any and all political ideologies” from streets or risk losing state and federal money for road projects.
While the City of Austin agreed to comply with the state order, local residents recently gathered to show support for the crosswalk and the queer community despite resistance, including the city’s fire department. On Monday, October 13, a small group of Austin organizers came together to take pictures at the crosswalk located on 4th and Colorado Street in downtown Austin, before it’s expected to be painted over, according to a Reddit post.
Andrew Ortman, who attended the event, said about 30 to 40 people showed up, but right when the group was staging for photos a person threw an entire can of red paint, vandalizing the crosswalk. Shortly after though, an Austin Fire Department (AFD) truck responded within minutes to save the day.
“At what felt like perfect timing, an AFD truck came down 4th street within a few minutes of it happening. Someone in the group asked one of the firemen if they happened to have any water on board to help wash the paint off,” Ortman wrote on Reddit. “They immediately jumped out of the truck and got to work.”…