Texas Banned Rainbow Crosswalks – San Antonio Painted Around It
When Texas moved to ban rainbow crosswalks statewide in late 2025, San Antonio found another way to keep those symbols visible.
For years, rainbow crosswalks in San Antonio marked spaces where LGBTQ+ residents felt visible, welcomed, and connected to the city around them, particularly in San Antonio’s Pride Cultural Heritage District near North Main Avenue.
Like similar crosswalks in Dallas, Houston, and other cities across Texas, the rainbow crosswalk became part of the visual identity of neighborhoods where LGBTQ+ communities have long gathered, organized, and built cultural life.
That changed in late 2025, when Texas moved to ban rainbow crosswalks statewide.
On Oct. 8, 2025, Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Transportation to remove rainbow crosswalks and other roadway markings tied to what the state described as “political ideologies.” Cities were given 30 days to comply or risk losing millions in state transportation funding.
The state cited safety concerns and federal uniformity standards as justification for the order, arguing that decorative roadway markings could distract or confuse drivers. The Texas Department of Transportation later issued guidance prohibiting decorative crosswalks, murals, and markings conveying “social, political, or ideological messages.”
The response across Texas was immediate.
In Dallas, where rainbow crosswalks in Oak Lawn had become longstanding neighborhood landmarks, local officials unsuccessfully attempted to secure an exemption from the state before the crossings were ultimately removed in early 2026. In Houston, residents created rainbow chalk drawings on sidewalks and side streets as ain a peaceful act of protest. In San Antonio, LGBTQ+ organizations rallied to fight for the rainbow crosswalks in the city’s Pride Cultural Heritage District.
San Antonio’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Board formally opposed the directive, while local organizations organized rallies and “Unity in the Community” events calling for the preservation of the crosswalks. But city officials ultimately decided the financial risk tied to noncompliance was too large to ignore.
According to The New York Times, San Antonio faced the possibility of losing an estimated $80 million in state funding if it refused to comply.
“I appreciate what our rainbow sidewalks represent,” Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones told The New York Times. “But, I’m the mayor of a major city in Texas, so I have to think about the consequences for everyone if our governor were to take away critical funding over this issue.”
The original crosswalks were eventually removed, but San Antonio found another way.
Rather than repainting rainbow markings on roadways controlled by the state, city leaders shifted the designs onto sidewalks instead, which don’t fall under the same TxDOT jurisdiction. The new rainbow sidewalks were installed in March 2026 inside the Pride Cultural Heritage District, replacing the former crosswalks while still preserving
visible LGBTQ+ symbols in the neighborhood.
Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, the first openly gay Black man elected to public office in Texas, helped lead the effort.
“We thought, how do we send the strongest possible message to the L.G.B.T.Q. community that we’re not going to be bullied, and that they can get rid of the crosswalks, but we can follow that law and paint the sidewalks instead,” McKee-Rodriguez told The New York Times.
The rainbow sidewalk initiative reflected something that has long shaped San Antonio’s people and culture: adaptation.
Rather than escalating a legal fight the city was unlikely to win, local leaders looked for a way to preserve visibility within the limits of state law. The result wasn’t identical to the original crosswalks, but it allowed the neighborhood to preserve public symbols many residents viewed as meaningful, symbols that carry weight far beyond paint.
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