As Texas cities decide if they’ll comply with an order to remove their painted rainbow crosswalks, a Dallas church isn’t waiting around to decide on the fate of their neighborhood rainbow.
On Tuesday, Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas announced that it would begin painting a rainbow on the church’s front steps,a response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive ordering Texas cities to remove rainbow crosswalks on city streets or lose road funding. Oak Lawn UMC, located in Dallas’ Oak Lawn gayborhood, sits on Cedar Springs Rd., where rainbow crosswalks have adorned the street since 2020.
While Abbott’s Oct. 8 order made no specific mention of rainbow crosswalks, he did ask the Texas Department of Transportation to ensure that Texas cities remove “any and all political ideologies from our streets”—language widely understood as targeting rainbow crosswalks. Abbott’s order follows similar directives from the federal Department of Transportation and actions in conservative states like Florida. Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Galveston, and El Paso all have rainbow crosswalks to celebrate their respective LGBTQ+ communities. Galveston removed its crosswalks after Abbott’s directive, and Houston’s was demolished following a tense protest this week that ended with four people being arrested. The City of Dallas has said only that it is evaluating TXDOT’s letter and that there is no timetable for removal.
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